Overview
- In the top of the seventh with the Padres leading 3-1, Fernando Tatis Jr. laid down a bunt, beat the throw and advanced before first-base umpire Cory Blaser convened the crew and ruled him out for running outside the designated runner’s lane.
- Tatis and manager Craig Stammen were ejected after arguing the call, with Tatis saying umpires did not explain the ruling and that the rule seems designed by people who have not played the game.
- Stammen publicly asked Major League Baseball to review the lane rule and its enforcement after his ejection, and there is no reporting of further discipline for either ejection at this time.
- The overturned play removed a chance for an insurance run and shifted momentum; the Rays rallied to tie in the ninth and won on Jorge Mateo’s walk-off in the 11th.
- The runner’s-lane rule exists to protect fielders but is applied subjectively, a point that critics cited after the call; the ejection was only the second of Tatis’s career and came during a stretch in which he had strong August numbers.