JUPITER, Fla. (AP) - As the umpire crew prepared to review an inning-ending double play turned by the Boston Red Sox, the players prematurely trotted off the field.
Oops.
Then a headset in the TV truck wouldn’t work.
Oops again.
The replay review in the St. Louis Cardinals’ game against Boston on Wednesday went less than smoothly but still took only about a minute.
The ruling on a 1-4-3 double play was upheld after Cardinals manager Mike Matheny challenged the call by second base umpire Jon Byrne, arguing that a wide throw to second baseman Heiker Meneses pulled him off the bag.
The Red Sox went to their dugout while the play in the eighth inning was reviewed, even though Boston manager John Farrell said they were supposed to remain on the field.
“The awkwardness is going to be the inning-ending play,” Farrell said. “What we’ve been informed is that the umpires will hold the defensive team on the field. They’re just trying to keep the flow of the game going. If you’ve got to call a team back out of the dugout, particularly the pitcher, they’re trying to avoid that.”
The review was briefly delayed because a headset didn’t work and had to be replaced, the umpire crew said. Even so, Farrell was satisfied with the speed of the review, and said early wrinkles in the system are to be expected.
“It’s a work in progress, and we’re just seeing it for the first time,” he said.
The Cardinals won 8-6.
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