Rays sweep Yankees 4-3 as Mesa homers and replay costs Volpe
Tampa Bay finishes the Division Series 3-0 and advances to the Championship Series; replay turned a Volpe shot first called a home run into a double.
A replay review decided the end of Game 3 at Yankee Stadium. With the Rays up 4-2 in the sixth inning, Anthony Volpe hit a ball off Griffin Jax that was called a two-run home run. After a long review, the umpires changed it to a double: a fan had reached over the wall. Only one run scored, the game ended 4-3 and Tampa Bay won on the night of Wednesday, Oct. 7. That completed a 3-0 sweep of the American League Division Series.
Until then the game had been close. Here is how the score moved, according to the AP report on NBC New York:
| Inning | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 3rd | Single by Jonathan Aranda; Ben Rice ties it with a single | 1-1 |
| 4th | Home run by Ryan Vilade; double by Spencer Jones brings Volpe home | 2-2 |
| 6th | Two-run home run by Victor Mesa Jr. off Max Fried | 4-2 |
| 6th | Volpe double after the review, one run scores | 4-3 |
What the replay said
Mesa's was the first home run of his career in the postseason. Then came Volpe's play, with George Lombard Jr. on first. MLB.com explains that the replay concluded the ball would not have left the park or been caught by Mesa. The outfielder told AP he "might have even been able to get to that ball" and that he believes it was interference.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone said after watching the replay that the umpires "got it right." Volpe said he did not know at first that there might be a problem and called the situation "crazy." Bryan Baker closed out the ninth and, according to AP, earned his third save of the series.
It is the Rays' first trip to the Championship Series since 2020, according to NBC New York. They had taken a 2-0 lead with a 5-2 win in Game 2, and New York was eliminated in three games.
What remains is who they will face at home on Oct. 12: the winner of Guardians vs. White Sox, a series Chicago leads 2-1, with Game 4 on Thursday, Oct. 8 and a possible Game 5 on the 10th, according to the MLB calendar. In the National League, the Dodgers and Brewers open their series on the 11th, after Milwaukee beat the Padres 3-1.
