OAKLAND -- The A's rallied from four runs down for an 8-7 win over the Blue Jays on Friday night, but they needed a little bit of help from replay before it could become official.
In a game that was dominated by offense, it was a throw from center field and a close play at the plate that were the difference. Kevin Pillar and Josh Reddick took center stage in a disputed call in the seventh inning that proved to be the deciding factor.
With runners on first and second, Stephen Vogt hit a sharp single up the middle. Reddick rounded third and made his way home as Pillar made a strong throw to the plate. Umpire Mark Wegner signaled for the out, but it wouldn't stay that way for long and the Blue Jays knew it.
"When you slow it down, you saw it, you could see that he was safe," Blue Jays catcher Russell Martin said. "In real time, it was bang-bang. A perfect throw from Kevin. But when you look at the replay, right away I was like, 'He's safe.'"
According to Statcast™, Reddick went from second to home in 6.656 seconds and he hit a max speed of 19.244 mph. Pillar's throw registered 92.136 mph and he threw it 234.294 feet. Both players pushed it to the max and only after multiple angles were shown could it be seen who exactly came out on top.
Reddick slid feet first into home, but pointed his left foot in such a way that it dragged across the top left-hand corner of the plate. If his foot had been up even slightly it likely would have resulted in an out, but in this case, he got it down just in time.
The replay officials in New York determined there was sufficient video evidence to overturn the call. Reddick scored and the inning continued as the A's eventually put the finishing touches on a victory to open the series.
"I got a good view of it on video from about 10 different angles," A's manager Bob Melvin said. "That's a play we have to be aggressive right there. It was the right call to send him. He was safe, made a good slide. It ended up being the right outcome for us."
Toronto left-hander Brett Cecil was saddled with the loss. Cecil retired the first two batters of the inning before he surrendered a single, a walk and then the go-ahead RBI hit to Vogt. Reddick wasn't safe by much, but in this particular case it was just enough. Barely.
"That's one of the closest ones I've seen," Vogt said. "I thought they got it right. As objectively as I can be, obviously. Talking with some of the Blue Jays, I couldn't believe they overturned it with how close it was. I would not have been surprised if they had said inconclusive. I definitely thought he was safe."