Red Sox’s Tyler O’Neill Shares Perspective Of Bizarre Infield Interference Call

BOSTON — It took an extra-inning roller coaster for the Red Sox to secure their first series win since the MLB All-Star break, and that Wednesday night thriller even featured one peculiar play call involving Tyler O’Neill. In the bottom of the seventh inning, O’Neill stood at first base during an infield pop-up off the […]

BOSTON — It took an extra-inning roller coaster for the Red Sox to secure their first series win since the MLB All-Star break, and that Wednesday night thriller even featured one peculiar play call involving Tyler O’Neill.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, O’Neill stood at first base during an infield pop-up off the bat of teammate Rafael Devers. O’Neill began retreating to first base, blocked off a bit by Mariners first baseman Justin Turner, which resulted in a minor collision that ultimately favored Seattle. O’Neill was called out by first base umpire Andy Fletcher, ending the inning and stranding a base runner in scoring position for Boston. This warranted a multi-minute-long discussion between Fletcher and Red Sox manager Alex Cora, who too, wasn’t the least bit thrilled with the (very) debatable call — arguing the decision while holding a fired-up O’Neill back from potentially being ejected.

“There was a pop-up there, and I just went for my secondary (lead) and took one step back and I had Turner under my elbow kind of body me around a little bit,” O’Neill explained after Boston’s 3-2 walk-off win over Seattle. “I was a little surprised with the ruling. I’m not too sure what happened there, honestly. I don’t know what else I can do. I took a step back toward the bag. I wasn’t making an effort to get in anybody’s way. I didn’t think there was anyone gonna be in the way to begin with so it definitely felt like there was some intent there. That’s tough luck, but it wasn’t even Turner’s ball, he didn’t end up catching it so I don’t know. Andy Fletcher, the umpire, says it’s a new rule from MLB so I’m not too sure how that works. MLB’s able to flip the switch on us and switch some rules, and I mean, it’s up to us to keep up to date on those.”

O’Neill’s strong reaction certainly seems warranted considering the explanation Boston was given. Turner wasn’t camped underneath the infield flyout — instead Seattle’s Jorge Polanco fielded the ball cleanly — begging the question: Who did O’Neill interfere with? The 29-year-old followed his base path to avoid the (evidently inevitable) inning-ending double play that ensued. Especially in the midst of a 2-2 tie with Boston fighting to gain much-needed ground in a tight American League playoff race, there’s no reason for O’Neill to risk the umpires concluding a ruling as such.

“First of all, JT didn’t catch the ball. The ball was at second base,” Cora said. “We’ll see. I’ll probably explain it on Friday because I want the league to take a look at the play and how it developed, and we’ll go from there. I was talking to Andy, ‘If you want Tyler to avoid the fielder, how do we accomplish that?’ Because he’s going back to the bag. … If he goes to grass and they drop the ball, he’s gonna be out. If he goes to second and they drop the ball, he’s gonna be out. It’s hard to become invisible.”

In the end, this didn’t backfire on the Red Sox. Ironically enough, Devers delivered the walk-off double in the bottom of the 10th inning while O’Neill stood at second base — as Boston’s automatic runner — and plated home the game-ending run to get the Red Sox back into the win column; ending the homestand on a high note.