The Boston Red Sox found themselves on the right side of one of baseball’s stranger rules Monday night, turning a baserunning mistake and a scoreboard error into a run during their game against the Toronto Blue Jays.
Boston entered the night in a sudden skid after an extraordinary run of success. The Red Sox had won 32 of 37 games before dropping their final two games of a weekend series against the Athletics. Against Toronto, things weren’t going much better early, with Boston trailing 2-0 in the seventh inning.
Then everything got complicated.
A Scoreboard Error Sets the Stage
Anthony Siegler and Connor Wong opened the situation with singles, putting runners on second and first. Nick Sogard followed with a hard ground ball to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at first base. Guerrero threw to second to retire Wong, but Toronto did not complete a double play, leaving Sogard at first and Siegler at third.
There was only one out.
The scoreboard at Rogers Center, however, incorrectly showed two.
That mistake mattered almost immediately.
Ceddanne Rafaela lifted a fly ball to center field, and Boston’s runners took off, apparently believing there were already two outs. Had they known the correct situation, they would have needed to tag up before advancing.
Toronto center fielder Brett Bateman caught the ball for the actual second out. With the runners having left early, Toronto still had an opportunity to capitalize on Boston’s mistake.
Bateman threw the ball back toward the infield, and the Blue Jays eventually threw to first base to retire Sogard for failing to tag up.
That was the third out.
But Siegler had already crossed home plate.
The Rare ‘Fourth Out’ Rule Comes Into Play
What followed was a 17-minute delay and a dive into one of MLB’s rarely seen rules.
Because the third out was recorded on Sogard at first rather than as a force play, Siegler’s run could count because he crossed home plate before that out was recorded. The fact that Siegler himself had also failed to tag did not automatically erase the run.
Toronto needed to appeal Siegler’s failure to tag and record what is commonly called a “fourth out.”
There was another catch: the appeal had to be made before the Blue Jays completely left the field. Toronto failed to do so in time.
The umpires ultimately awarded Boston the run.
Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy did not pretend his team had executed some carefully designed strategy.
“We kind of got a break there,” Tracy admitted.
Blue Jays manager John Schneider saw the sequence differently. He said plate umpire Charlie Ramos had initially “waved off the run,” leaving Toronto without what Schneider believed was a proper opportunity to appeal at third.
“After consulting with MLB, they told me that all of my players were across the third base line before Charlie waved off the run, which I 100% disagree with,” Schneider said.
He even pointed to Guerrero while disputing the timing.
“I don’t know if Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is that fast after he got the ball at first.”
Blue Jays Dispute the Timing, but the Run Stands
Crew chief Chris Guccione explained that the umpires believed they were responsible for correcting the initial scoring decision.
“We felt like it was our obligation to correct the error for not scoring the run originally,” Guccione said after the game.
Schneider acknowledged how the rule ultimately worked.
“The rule is the rule. … So if the run scores from third, no matter what he did tagging up, or not, before the out is recorded at first, the run counts,” he said.
Toronto had a much simpler way out of the mess.
“Now, if we had just thrown the ball to third instead of first, obviously different story,” Schneider added.
Instead, a scoreboard showing the wrong number of outs, multiple Boston runners leaving without tagging, Toronto’s decision to throw to first, and a missed appeal combined to produce one of baseball’s more unusual runs.
For Boston, the gift did not change the final result. The Red Sox went on to lose the game, extending their losing streak to three despite getting a run from a play in which their own baserunners had made the initial mistake.
