BOSTON — Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia came away from the first game of Thursday’s doubleheader against the Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway Park scratching his head.
Pedroia was thrown out at the plate in the seventh inning as the Rays protected a 2-1 lead. The Red Sox challenged the call, but the umpires upheld the initial ruling, leaving Pedroia somewhat confused as to how he should have approached the play at the plate.
“I mean, I don’t really know what the rules are,” Pedroia said. “I just know if you plow the catcher, you’re ejected, out, then fined and suspended. So I think my job is to go as hard as I can at the back part of the plate and slide, and I did that.”
Pedroia certainly did his best to avoid Rays catcher Jose Molina’s tag, but the umpires determined there wasn’t enough visual evidence to overturn the call on the field. While it appeared Pedroia’s foot might have slipped past Molina’s tag, it was far more difficult to determine whether or not Pedey ever actually touched the plate.
“Yeah, I think that’s a little frustrating,” Pedroia said of the controversial replay. “But there’s really nothing more you can say. I just don’t like the whole inconclusive deal. Replay, you should go check it out and you’re either out or safe. I don’t know what inconclusive means. Maybe that means someone doesn’t want to make a decision. We all make decisions every day. Some of them are hard and some of them are not. Got to make them, though.”
Pedroia said he wasn’t sure whether he touched the plate and/or whether Molina tagged him. Red Sox manager John Farrell and starter Jake Peavy both said they thought Pedroia was safe, though, so unclear rules or not, the second baseman at least had plenty of support in the clubhouse.
