The Red Sox had every reason to feel robbed in Sunday’s finale against the Yankees, and the flashpoint came on one of the strangest calls of the day.
In the fifth inning, Ceddanne Rafaela ranged in on a sinking liner to center and laid out headfirst, appearing to make the catch before the play was ruled dead by the umpires. Rafaela thought he had it.
The NESN broadcast thought he had it. Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s body language suggested he thought he was out, too.
But the officials ruled it no catch, saying the ball only scraped the grass. That decision kept the inning alive for Ranger Suárez, and the Yankees made Boston pay with five runs.
The ruling also changed what should have been a clean sequence into a mess for the Red Sox. Instead of getting an out and a double play that would have retired José Caballero at first, the play went in the books as a single. Rafaela, who jammed his neck on the dive and needed a trainer to check on him, was visibly angry afterward and argued with first base umpire Edwin Moscoso, the man who made the call.
The frustration was about more than one play. Boston came into Sunday at 74-62, sitting three games behind New York, which was 77-59, in the AL wild-card race. With the season series tied 6-6, Sunday’s winner would hold home-field advantage in the wild-card round if the two teams finish with the same record.
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