By Peter Gleason
The Braves lost to the Phils, who salvaged one game of their weekend series in Atlanta when Alec Bohm slid home with the eventual winning run as Braves catcher Travis d’Arnaud attempted to apply the tag, moving from the third-base side of the plate to the first-base side, where Bohm was coming in.
Plate umpire Lance Barrett called Bohm safe, though replays showed he might never have touched home plate. After a long delay for the video challenge, the ruling on the field was upheld.
“In real time, it’s bang-bang,” Braves starter Drew Smyly said after the game. “We have five different angles on a national televised game, and it’s clear that his foot didn’t touch the plate. That it was on the chalk. For MLB not to overturn that, it’s embarrassing. Why even have replay if you won’t overturn that?”
The official ruling from MLB stated the replay official “could not definitively determine that the runner failed to touch home plate prior to the fielder applying the tag.”
“Initially, I didn’t know if he was safe or out, but after watching the replay, it looked like his foot didn’t touch the bag, from any angle we saw,” d’Arnaud said. “I thought he was clearly out at the plate.”
Players around the league agreed, with Justin Turner and Mike Trout sharing their thoughts on the call on Twitter.
Absolutely brutal, saw two angles that were clear he never touched the plate and we get a call stands? I’m with everyone else, what’s the point of replay? https://t.co/4F1bZAzNCX
— Justin Turner (@redturn2) April 12, 2021
So bad…?
— Mike Trout (@MikeTrout) April 12, 2021
