Video: Ron Washington uses instant replay for Elvis Andrus

Apr 5, 2014; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington (38) in the dugout against the Tampa Bay Rays during the ninth inning at Tropicana Field. The Rays won 5-4. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Boston, Mass – It didn’t take long for Ron Washington to burn through his instant replay challenge during the Texas Rangers vs Boston Red Sox game.  During the first inning there was a close play when Donnie Murphy fielded a ball on the shift.

He threw over to Elvis Andrus and it appeared that Andrus caught the ball cleanly in his glove.  Once he made the catch, he transferred the ball to his throwing arm he dropped the ball and runners were called safe at first and second.

It appeared the Andrus had Daniel Nava at second, he did make the tag.  Check out the video below.

Some confusion on the ruling: The Rangers lost the challenge and the play stood and Elvis Andrus was charged with an error.  Luckily it didn’t matter and the Texas Rangers ended the inning scoreless.

But what happened?  It appeared that Elvis made the tag, but he didn’t have the ball under control enough for the out to count.  The official ruling from New York said that “Fielder never had possession of the ball.”, well we know they meant Elvis.  Tough call for the Rangers, it appeared to be an out.

Rule 2.00 ‘A Catch’: According the MLB Rule book, Elvis must catch the ball and secure it in his possession.  Also under MLB rules, he has to establish control of the catch and show that the release of the ball was voluntary and intentional.  That appears to have been the problem, he had it only momentarily before the transfer and clearly dropped the ball from his glove hand.  The good thing is that play didn’t hurt.

This was Ron Washington first time to lose a challenge