Globe iconLogin iconRecap iconSearch iconTickets icon

It took two replay reviews to rule Aaron Judge out on one of the weirdest plays of the postseason

The Yankees tied up the ALCS presented by Camping World in thrilling fashion on Tuesday night, thanks to a four-run eighth inning that nearly blew the lid off of Yankee Stadium. But ALCS Game 4 wasn't just one of the best games of the postseason so far, it also featured possibly the weirdest play of the postseason so far -- one that involved baserunning shenanigans, an attempted sneak steal of second and not one but two replay reviews.
It was a lot to make sense of -- even the Yankee Stadium crowd seemed to be unsure of what was going on -- but don't worry: We're here to break it down, step by step.
Part 1
With Gary Sánchez at the plate and one out in the bottom of the fourth, Aaron Judge attempted to steal second. One problem: Sanchez popped one up to shallow right-center, and Judge didn't realize where the ball was until he was already at second base. From there, it was a mad dash to try to get back in time:

Part 2
Judge was called out at first on a bang-bang play, but Joe Girardi decided to challenge the call -- and upon further review, it appeared that Judge just barely beat first baseman Yuli Gurriel's foot back to the bag. Judge was ruled safe, until ...
Part 3
Now it was A.J. Hinch's turn to challenge. You see, while Judge had managed to get to first in time, he'd forgotten one very important step: touching second base on his way back.

Hinch challenged, and it appeared that Judge would be out as soon as Astros starter Lance McCullers flipped the ball to Carlos Correa standing on second. But wait, what's that:
Part 4
Girardi knew that the Astros were about to successfully appeal to second base, so he came up with a plan: He told Judge to steal second with McCullers still looking in at the sign, hoping that Judge would reach second before the ball did. Alas, the big right-fielder came up just short:

You know, just your everyday 9-3-replay review-1-replay review-6 putout. 

BarberJordan
beephero
AP_702417634020
NYC