Overview
- Roman Anthony’s helmet-tap review, which came Thursday in Cincinnati, overturned a called third strike into a walk and kept the ninth alive before two RBI singles pushed Boston’s edge from one run to three.
- MLB’s automated ball-strike challenge lets only the batter, pitcher, or catcher contest a call within seconds, with two challenges per team and a successful appeal kept for later use.
- Manager Alex Cora said Boston mapped out when to challenge by situation, stressing run creation and the value of having a review in reserve for high-leverage moments.
- In a contrasting Opening Day moment, Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh did not challenge a late strikeout he later called a mistake, underscoring the learning curve for players.
- Early numbers cited by ESPN show teams winning about 60% of challenges with rulings delivered in under a minute, though it will take time to know how the system changes MLB over a season.