The White Sox tied the game late and looked to take the lead when a runner came charging home on a base hit to left. The throw beat him to the plate, and the home plate ump called him out. It looked clear. The catcher set up in fair position off the line, then shifted with the throw to make the tag. No issues, or so it seemed. But after a replay, the call was overturned. The catcher was ruled to have blocked the plate. That gave Chicago the lead. The scoreboard changed, and so did the mood in the dugout. Texas manager Bruce Bochy stormed out, furious with the decision. He argued, got tossed, then cooled off a bit and tried to figure out who in the replay booth made the final call.
The play sparked another debate around MLB’s plate-blocking rule. The rule says a catcher can’t block the plate unless he has possession or is making a legitimate attempt to play the throw. In this case, the catcher appeared to slide over only to reach the ball. But the umpires seemed to believe that his movement forced the runner to adjust his path and dive inside. They judged that if the runner hadn’t altered his course, he would have beaten the tag.
Later, Texas catcher Jonah Heim, who took the heat in the overturned call, got a little payback. With two on and two outs in the next game, Heim crushed a three-run homer. As he rounded first, he looked toward the dugout and jokingly called for a review. The mood in that dugout was much different this time.