TORONTO — Confusion smothered the Yankees’ clubhouse late Saturday afternoon regarding the latest replay scenario.
Across the hall in the umpire’s room, confusion didn’t make it under the door.
Though the ruling that went against the Yankees in a 4-0 loss to the Blue Jays in front of 45,446 at Rogers Centre didn’t cost the Bombers, who struggled with runners in scoring position, it had them asking plenty of questions.
With Francisco Cervelli on second base, two outs in the third and the Blue Jays leading, 1-0, Jacoby Ellsbury singled to center. Colby Rasmus fielded the ball and threw home to catcher Josh Thole. The throw beat a sliding Cervelli, but the Yankees believed Thole broke the new rule about catchers not being able to block the plate without the ball and that Cervelli was safe.
After crew chief Dana DeMuth looked at video and heard from replay control in New York, the play stood and Cervelli was out.
“The only explanation you get from New York is safe or out,’’ said manager Joe Girardi, who wasn’t charged with a challenge because a manager only can suggest the umpires, who have control over everything that happens at the plate, look at a play at home. “My question is was [Thole] blocking home plate before he had the ball so our runner is supposed to be declared safe the way it was explained to us. Number two, we believe that we have footage that [Cervelli] was safe anyway.
“The way it was explained to us, if the catcher is in front of home plate and towards third base that is considered blocking the plate.’’
According to DeMuth’s view of the play and what he saw on tape, Thole wasn’t blocking the plate before the throw arrived.
“There was no confusion on the replay. There was no confusion on my [part] from what I saw,’’ DeMuth said. “[Cervelli] had an angle to the plate. After [Thole] caught the ball the shin guard went down. Before that [Cervelli] had an avenue.’’
Cervelli said Thole had the plate blocked and didn’t give him an avenue to get home.
“I got confused. I didn’t know where to slide. I didn’t have room,’’ said Cervelli, who had two of the Yankees’ seven hits. “The confusion is that I was supposed to slide for the outside part but when he had the plate I didn’t know what to do. I was pretty sure what the rule was all about but I have to ask again.’’
It would have been one run and tied the score, but that wouldn’t have been enough for the Yankees to overcome R.A. Dickey’s dancing knuckleball.
Dickey threw 6 ²/₃ shutout innings, allowed five hits, walked one and hit Cervelli.
The anemic bats wasted a solid Yankees debut by Michael Pineda. In his first game since Sept. 9, 2011, because of shoulder surgery, Pineda allowed a run, five hits, didn’t issue a walk and fanned five.
Pineda’s only mistake was getting matched against Dickey.
The Yankees threatened against Dickey in the sixth with runners at first and third and trailing by a run with no outs but Carlos Beltran banged into a 1-6-3 double play. They stranded two in the seventh against Aaron Loop when Brian Roberts popped up. Trailing by a run in the eighth Sergio Santos fanned the frigid Alfonso Soriano on a 1-2 breaking ball in the dirt to leave three.
After the play stood, Girardi went to DeMuth to see if he could protest on the grounds that the rule was misinterpreted but he wasn’t allowed to protest.
According to the manager the umpires and replay officials aren’t going to have a harder tougher call than those at the plate.
“I believe this is going to be the toughest overall for them to get right all the time,” Girardi said.
“To me it’s a vague interpretation of what blocking home plate is.”