WASHINGTON (AP) — The introduction of instant replay hasn’t taken all of the uncertainty out of Major League baseball.
An obstruction call caused some confusion and led to an umpires meeting that briefly delayed the first inning of the Milwaukee Brewers 4-2 win over the Washington Nationals on Friday night.
After Washington’s Denard Span led off with a single, Anthony Rendon followed with a grounder to shortstop.
Span beat the throw to second and was initially called safe, but second baseman Scooter Gennett’s relay throw got Rendon at first. However, second base umpire Angel Campos called Span out for obstruction as Span came up into Gennett after his slide.
Nationals manager Matt Williams came out to argue, and the umpires eventually huddled while Williams hovered.
“My argument on the play, which was a non-reviewable play, is that (Span) beat the throw and he called him safe anyway, and he was simply sliding into the base,” Williams said.
“If the fielder elects to throw the ball to first base, that’s on him. I don’t think Denard did anything out of his way to interfere, but that was the ruling on the field and that’s not reviewable.”
Span remained out but Rendon was ruled safe at first because Span’s obstruction created a dead-ball situation. Crew Chief Bill Miller explained to the call to Brewers manager Ron Roenicke before play resumed.
“I think they got it wrong, but I can’t tell you the ruling on it because I’ve never seen it before,” Roenicke said. “He said once the umpire calls him safe and then calls the interference it becomes a dead ball.”
Washington didn’t score in the inning as Jayson Werth flied out and Adam LaRoche grounded.
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
