Crew undone by rocky sixth after missed interference call

MILWAUKEE -- It’s impossible to know exactly how the sixth inning would have played out if the call went the Brewers’ way Sunday at American Family Field.

But the non-interference ruling on an Aaron Judge slide into second base was a key moment before a seven-run Yankees rally, as Milwaukee dropped its series finale and rubber match, 15-5, to New York.

Andy Fletcher, Sunday’s crew chief and third-base umpire, acknowledged Judge should have been called for interference after his arm blocked and deflected shortstop Willy Adames’ throw to first base on the potential 4-6-3 double play in the sixth.

“After looking at it off the field in replay, it appears that the call was missed,” Fletcher said in a pool report of Judge’s slide. “It should’ve been called interference because it wasn’t a natural part of his slide.”

The Brewers erased an early 4-0 deficit in the fifth inning, capped off by Jake Bauers’ three-run homer off Yankees starter Marcus Stroman. Milwaukee, looking for a quick shutdown inning in the top of the sixth, appeared on its way despite Abner Uribe’s leadoff walk to Judge.

Alex Verdugo grounded a 99.2 mph sinker from Uribe to second baseman Brice Turang, who flipped it to Adames to force out Judge at second. Adames released his return throw attempting to complete the double play.

As Judge slid feet-first into second, his left arm extended into the air. Adames' throw deflected off of the protective oven mitt on Judge’s hand. Verdugo, who was hustling to first base and would have made the play close with a clean throw, reached first safely after the ball deflected off of Judge.

“You can look back at any picture you want of me sliding into second base,” said the 6-foot-7 Judge of his slide. “That's always happened. I really don't know. I feel like there was plenty of time to go around. I'm just doing my job sliding into the base.”

Said Adames: “He’s, like, seven feet tall. He’s huge. I feel like with his hands up, he's taller than me, even when he's sliding to second base. So it's a tough space for me to throw the ball. It hadn’t happened to me before. I guess you see a lot of new things in baseball every day.”

Derek Thomas, who was closest to the play as the second-base umpire, did not call Judge for interference. Brewers manager Pat Murphy went onto the field for an explanation, and Fletcher’s crew huddled up to discuss the play.

Though the play cannot be reviewed, the crew could have changed the initial call after getting together. Had they determined that Judge interfered, Verdugo would have been called out, per MLB’s official rulebook:

“If, in the judgment of the umpire, a base runner willfully and deliberately interferes with a batted ball or a fielder in the act of fielding a batted ball with the obvious intent to break up a double play, the ball is dead. The umpire shall call the runner out for interference and also call out the batter-runner because of the action of his teammate.”

“It's hard to say that he wasn't making an attempt at least purposely to obstruct,” Murphy said. “I don't think he wanted to get hit by the ball. But I think he was trying to purposely obstruct. … I don’t know what his intent was. He seems like a wonderful man, but very competitive also.”

In the umpires’ on-field judgment, Judge did not intentionally interfere.

“We did everything we could to get together and get it right,” Fletcher said after the game. “But after looking at it, it appears that it should’ve been called interference.”

Even so, the Brewers had a chance to get out of the inning with the 4-4 tie preserved, especially after Uribe got Giancarlo Stanton to pop up for the second out of the inning. But he allowed the next four Yankees hitters to reach, two via walks, and three runs scored.

Elvis Peguero, another ace Brewers reliever, entered and surrendered a walk, two singles and threw a wild pitch, and a close game had suddenly given way to an 11-4 Yankees lead. Milwaukee had chances to make a dent in the deficit, but the offense went 3-for-16 with runners in scoring position and left 15 on base.

For the Brewers, who were still talking about the sixth-inning slide among themselves in the postgame clubhouse, it’s hard not to feel like that moment made a difference.

“After you see the result of the game, that changed the whole game,” Adames said. “It would have been two outs with nobody on. They admitted they messed up. We mess up sometimes. That’s how it goes, sometimes.”