BALTIMORE -- The Orioles’ comeback magic had, to this point, rarely found a circumstance insurmountable. But until Sunday, it hadn’t witnessed as wonky an occurrence as this.
On a bang-bang play at the plate that initially went in the Orioles’ favor in the seventh inning of Sunday’s 8-1 loss to the Pirates at Camden Yards, catcher Robinson Chirinos was ultimately ruled to have been in violation of the home-plate collision rule, changing the flow of the game after a lengthy review and eliminating any hopes of an Orioles sweep.
By the time manager Brandon Hyde was ejected -- and Anthony Santander had warmed up by playing catch with a fan in the right-field stands -- the air had deflated out of potentially another one of the Orioles’ patented comebacks. A digestible deficit had ballooned to seven runs, snapping the O’s five-game win streak and handing them just their third loss of at least three runs since the start of July.
“For me, this is common sense. This was a common sense play,” Hyde said. “Throw's from the left-field line, and the throw beats him by 7 feet, so I don't know, as a catcher, what you're supposed to do. … There was a lot of things going on there.”
Here’s what was going on: Pirates infielder Kevin Newman’s broken-bat bouncer to the left side hit off the chest of a diving Jorge Mateo. Upon collecting both himself and the ball, Mateo threw home to Chirinos, trying to cut down outfielder Greg Allen racing from second.
Chirinos, his full frame between Allen and home plate, was run into. Allen was initially ruled out, but a Pirates-initiated challenge ultimately overturned the call. Hyde was ejected from the game as he approached the umpiring crew, saying they expected him to argue, but he said he was approaching just for an appeal.
The home-plate collision rule, amended in 2014 after some dangerous plays at the plate, states that the catcher may not block the runner’s path unless he is already in possession of the ball. In this circumstance, MLB’s replay officials in New York deemed that Chirinos setting himself up in foul territory was an illegal maneuver, though the catcher and Hyde’s conversations with umpires caused some confusion on the exact ruling.
“After reviewing all relevant angles, the replay official definitively determined that the catcher was in violation of the home plate collision rule,” MLB said in a written statement. “The catcher's initial setup completely in foul territory was illegal and he maintained that position without possession of the ball.”
“That’s probably about as confident as I’ve been on any challenge we’ve done,” said Pirates manager Derek Shelton. “We didn’t even go to the phone. It was a straight block.”
The Orioles weren’t quite so sure.
“I thought Chirinos was in a good spot when Mateo got the ball and threw it in. Looking at the replay, too, I felt like his right foot was on the line or on the foul side of the line, giving the runner a clear lane,” Hyde said. “The ball beat him, the throw from the left field line takes him into the plate. I'm not sure what a catcher is supposed to do at that point. I guess it's to backhand the ball. It just -- I don't agree with any of it. Yeah, I don't know. I don't agree with the call.”
“I know I start on the inside, but the rule doesn't say where you have to start, you only have to give him some space to slide. And I think I did,” said the 11-year veteran Chirinos, who’s been in the bigs both before and after the new rule was enacted. “I think I did out there -- [both] when I was on the field and also watching the replay. I mean, you can see the inside part of the plate was open, and Mateo threw the ball and it took the plate away because that ball was right on top of the plate. I don't know what they want me to do right there.”
Allen ultimately scored, not required to touch the plate on such a play. The Pirates then scored thrice more after the play, and the Orioles wallowed away, boasting just two baserunners -- a walk and an error -- after the controversy swirled as part of just six on the afternoon.
"That was the third out right there,” Chirinos said. “They scored four runs after that play, and the game went out of hand. Don't know what could've happened if we end up coming back to the dugout 4-1. Probably have a shot to turn over that game. But the thing happened.”
“If that one hadn’t gone our way,” Shelton said, “who knows?"