Red Sox Score Bizarre Run Without Tagging Up From Third

Anthony Seigler scored from third base on a sacrifice fly Monday night without ever tagging up, in a play that left everyone in Toronto confused and triggered a 17-minute delay as umpires sorted it out.

Seigler scored Boston's only run in a 2-1 loss to the Blue Jays on a chaotic double play. "We kind of got a break there," Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy said.

There was only one out when Ceddanne Rafaela hit a fly ball to center field in the seventh, though the scoreboard showed two outs. The ball was still in the air when Seigler headed toward the plate and Nick Sogard took off from first base.

When the ball was caught and the Blue Jays threw it to first to double up Sogard, that was the third out, and it appeared Toronto still led 2-0 as players headed to the dugout.

Blue Jays manager John Schneider said everyone assumed the inning was over when plate umpire Charlie Ramos "waved off the run," and that he was never given the chance to appeal Seigler leaving third early amid the confusion.

Umpires then held separate conversations with both managers before consulting MLB's replay center on what crew chief Chris Guccione called a timing play, not a force play.

Because Seigler crossed home plate before Sogard was called out at first, and Toronto never appealed the runner leaving third early, the run was awarded to Boston. "We felt like it was our obligation to correct the error for not scoring the run originally," Guccione said.

"The rule is the rule. ... So if the run scores from third, no matter what he did tagging up, or not, before the out is recorded at first, the run counts," Schneider said. Guccione said the Blue Jays would have needed to appeal at third base before leaving the field to prevent the run.

Schneider disputed MLB's explanation that his players had crossed the third-base line before Ramos waved off the run. Some Blue Jays, including reliever Simeon Woods Richardson and catcher Brandon Valenzuela, had already turned toward the dugout before the throw to first was completed.

"It was a weird, very weird situation, where the players on both sides seemed to be confused on the outs," Tracy said. Schneider added that in the future, if his team faces a similar play, "we will record the lead out at third."