Two reviews on one play help Royals turn wacky DP

KANSAS CITY -- It took two reviews on the same play and a combined four minutes, 38 seconds of scrutiny. But in the end, the Royals and Indians agreed that a wacky seventh-inning play on Sunday was ultimately ruled correctly in Kansas City's 3-0 win.

With the Royals leading, 2-0, in the seventh, the Indians had runners at first and third with one out. Lonnie Chisenhall hit a liner that was stabbed by pitcher Ryan Madson, who tried to double Michael Brantley off first. Brantley was ruled safe as Madson's throw was wild and first baseman Eric Hosmer could not get the tag on Brantley before Francisco Lindor broke off third and reached the plate ahead of the throw home.

That's where it got interesting.

The Royals threw the ball to third base while noticing that Lindor never tagged up before sprinting home. However, Lindor was initially called safe by third-base umpire Mike Estabrook on the appeal. Then Royals manager Ned Yost challenged the play at first and it was confirmed. But Yost later came back out and wanted a crew-chief review on whether Lindor tagged up at third.

The crew-chief review showed Lindor never tagged up and he was ruled out to end the inning.

"They looked at it, they conferred and [home-plate umpire] Ed Hickox said he didn't tag up," Yost said.

Indians manager Terry Francona didn't have an issue with the ultimate decision, but he questioned the process it took to get there.

"In the end, they got the call right," Francona said. "I'm not too sure I still agree that they handled it appropriately. I think when Ned came out and challenged, they lost the challenge and then he comes back out, which you're not allowed to do. They allowed him to, and then you see it on the board and then they react to that. Which again, I don't think you can do that, either."