Victor Mesa Jr hit a tiebreaking two-run homer off Max Fried in the sixth inning, and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the New York Yankees 4-3 on Wednesday night with the help of a fan interference call to complete a three-game sweep of their American League Division Series. Ryan Vilade also homered for the Rays, who reached the American League Championship Series for the first time since 2020 and will host either the Chicago White Sox or Cleveland Guardians in Monday’s opener. After Mesa’s homer gave the Rays a 4-2 lead, Anthony Volpe appeared to hit a two-run shot against Griffin Jax with two outs in the bottom half of the inning as a fan reached over the left-field wall and caught the ball above the glove of a leaping Mesa.
A video review determined the ball would not have cleared the wall and would not have been caught by Mesa. Volpe was awarded an RBI double and George Lombard Jr was allowed to score from first. Jax recovered to strike out Spencer Jones.
Baseball’s use of video technology was key to the inning. Lombard reached on a one-out walk when a 3-1 pitch called a strike by home plate umpire Dan Bellino was ruled inside on an automated ball-strike (ABS) challenge. Austin Wells then walked on a full-count changeup, but an ABS challenge by Rays catcher Liam Hicks determined the pitch had caught the inside corner for a strikeout, bringing up Volpe.
It was quite a change from 1996, when umpires had no such technology to assist them and Derek Jeter’s home run for the Yankees helped turn around the ALCS opener despite Jeffrey Maier reaching over the right-field wall where Baltimore’s Tony Tarasco was positioned to catch the ball. MLB began using video review for home run calls in 2008 and allowed challenges to ball-strike decisions starting this year. Ian Seymour pitched one and a third scoreless innings, Kevin Kelly struck out pinch-hitter Giancarlo Stanton to strand a runner in the eighth and Bryan Baker pitched the ninth for his third save of the series.
Seeking their first World Series title, Tampa Bay celebrated on the field of the big-spending Yankees for the second time in two weeks after clinching the AL East on 22 September. New York opened the season with MLB’s third-highest payroll at $303m, while the Rays ranked 26th at $91m. Swept in a best-of-five postseason series for the first time since the 1980 ALCS against Kansas City, the Yankees ended their 17th consecutive season without a World Series title.
That equaled their longest championship drought since winning their first title in 1923, matching the gap between their triumphs in 1978 and 1996. Yankees captain Aaron Judge missed the postseason after straining a calf on 16 September. The three-time AL MVP played just seven games after 31 May because of a fractured rib and the leg injury, an absence the team could not overcome.
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