ANAHEIM -- By a matter of inches, the Rangers rallied to tie Saturday night's game against the Angels on Adrian Beltre's sacrifice fly off Richard Parker in the ninth inning. But it was no ordinary sacrifice fly.
The Rangers entered the ninth trailing, 2-1, but Jurickson Profar delivered a one-out double to left-center field and advanced to third on a wild pitch from Parker. Nomar Mazara then worked a walk, putting runners on the corners.
After Rangers manager Jeff Banister sent in Rule 5 Draft pick Carlos Tocci to pinch-run for Mazara, Beltre lifted a fly ball to left field. That should have brought home the tying run, but Justin Upton threw out Tocci for the third out after he tagged up and tried to advance to second on the play.
The Rangers were initially denied the tying run, as the umpires ruled that Tocci had been tagged out before Profar crossed the plate. That would've ended the game with an Angels win. But the call was overturned following a replay review, tying the game, 2-2.
Third-base umpire and crew chief Fieldin Culbreth indicated that Tocci was out at second before signaling that the run counted while announcing the decision, causing confusion and leading the Angels to briefly believe that they had held on to win. Stadium employees rushed in from the outfield and began setting up the postgame fireworks before realizing that the game had not yet ended.
"They got the call right," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "The runner was tagging, you've got to get that putout at second before he touches the plate. If he touches the plate first, then that run counts, and in the end, he did."
The Rangers went on to win, 3-2, after Ronald Guzman singled to drive in the go-ahead run in the 10th.
Tocci acknowledged afterward that he took an unnecessary risk in trying to advance to second on the play.
"I should have seen the play in front of me and held up," said Tocci, who was activated off the disabled Iist on Saturday. "I was too aggressive. I should have held up and waited for the run to score."
Banister deflected some of the blame away from Tocci but also said he hoped the 22-year-old outfielder would use the baserunning gaffe as a learning experience.
"That's on me," Banister said. "I put a young guy in that situation. He was aggressive. Obviously, it worked out well for us. A learning moment for him and every other baserunner."