Furious Yankees manager Aaron Boone claims controversial call replay ‘bailed the Guardians out’

New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone called the umpiring crew after Wednesday’s game and said he believes they “saved” the Cleveland Guardians, despite his team winning 4-3.

Boone ended up getting his first lockout of the season after leading all major league managers in lockouts with nine last season.

On the play in question that led to Boone’s ejection, Yankees centerfielder Aaron Hicks appeared to make a sliding catch that ended in a double play.

The replay was shown on the scoreboard in the stadium, which clearly showed that Hicks had not made the catch, and the crowd was very vocal before the umpires gathered to discuss the decision.

And Boone claimed that by showing the replay to the fans, the audience reaction helped the Guardians.

Boone received his first ejection of the seasons after arguing with umpires over an incorrect call

“I just think it’s totally saved [the Guardians] out,” Boone said.

“It gets thrown on the scoreboard. I’m not saying [the umpires] looked at the scoreboard, but you clearly felt the emotion in the building.

“Then they get together to get it right and then they go to Cleveland, I think, to save them in the end.

“I clearly objected to it. They played the game well I will say. But it cannot be the case that in my opinion the environment has not created the end result.’

The first call was that Steven Kwan had tagged from third base and scored before Hicks’ throw reached second base, which would have given the Guardians an 1–0 lead and ended the inning.

After a short delay, the umpires met to discuss whether the run had actually been scored in time.

The meeting clearly took up more than the 15-second judging clock teams are normally given to challenge a game.

Boone went ballistic, left his dugout, and argued with the on-field umpires, leading to his ejection.

Referees initially ruled that CF Aaron Hicks made a sliding catch that led to a double play

The replay showed that he had indeed not completed the catch and was shown in the stadium

“There was a very complex game, there were a lot of moving parts, so we wanted to make sure we had everything,” home plate umpire Chris Guccione told reporters after the game.

‘The [challenge] clock never started. It started the clock between the innings. So I look up there. It’s hard to look at the clock and explain to Boone what just happened.”

“That was then Larry [second base umpire and crew chief Larry Vanover] says, “Wait a minute, we need to fix this. Let’s come together as a crew.’

Guccione, spoke in place of Vanover who was taken to hospital for scans after being hit on the head by a pitch later in the game.