Girardi experiments with new replay system

TAMPA, Fla. -- Major League Baseball's expanded replay rules were in effect Wednesday at George M. Steinbrenner Field. It was the third test game in which the Yankees have been involved, but the first time manager Joe Girardi has challenged a call.

The instance came with one out in the bottom of the seventh of what ended up as a 7-7 Grapefruit League tie with the Tigers. Yankees second baseman Brian Roberts hit a grounder to second baseman Devon Travis and was called out on a close play. He came out and asked for a review, which upheld the call.

"I thought he was out, but I wasn't sure," Girardi said. "And I didn't want to wait for our [video] guy to get back to me because it was the seventh inning. I thought he was out, but I wasn't 100 percent sure. So I ran out there. Because after that, for the most part, the belief is that if there's a questionable call after the sixth, they're going to review it."

Girardi added that it's unlikely he would have challenged that call in the regular season.

"Probably not. But really, in a sense, I have nothing to lose if I still have my challenge and we're through six innings. You can't store it. It's not vacation days," he said.

Girardi said that, overall, he thinks the system worked "great" and joked that it could keep him from being fined for being ejected while arguing calls.

"It will save me some money," he said.

Girardi does believe that the new rule intended to eliminate home-plate collisions still has some wrinkles that need to be addressed.

"There's still some stuff to be cleared up there," he said. "There are still some little things. The question for me is what's considered blocking home plate. It still has not been completely ironed out, so that's what we're kind of waiting for. I feel like it's a process that everyone's trying to go through. And the best thing that can happen is that you have as many plays as possible. Challenges, plays at the plate that do get challenged or at least thought about. You don't want it to be the first time it comes up during the season."