How Yankees, Gleyber Torres should handle questionable call

LOS ANGELES — Call it the fog of WAR.

Some big names, with sizeable Wins Above Replacement totals, took part in the critical play from Saturday afternoon’s 2-1 Yankees loss at Dodger Stadium, a suspenseful game with a hell of an ending that featured one of the more confusing sequences you’ll ever see.

So confusing, in fact, that only one Yankee sounded particularly perturbed over an umpire’s ruling that played a huge role in the game’s outcome. Gleyber Torres’ scathing indictment of the officiating played to a backdrop of shrugs.

So confusing that Yankees fans probably should keep this one out of their Savage File, their list of grievances that has turned their club’s battles with umpires into a captivating subplot of this highly dramatic 2019 season.

“You’d like to see the play secured a little bit more before you end that,” manager Aaron Boone said, voicing more regret than anger.

“It took me a little while to realize what was going on, him possibly scoring and calling time and all that,” said Brett Gardner, who — you might have noticed — is not opposed to working himself into a lather over questionable calls. “Fun game.”

The words of the Yankees’ baseball-lifer skipper and veteran center fielder stood in contrast to those of the sophomore Torres, who said, “I think [the umpires] need to do a little [better] job. … I don’t know what’s wrong with the umpires today.”

You could understand Torres’ frustration, as he was the victim of the questionable call. With one out in the top of the ninth inning, Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen on the mound, Gardner on first and Torres on second, Gio Urshela hit a grounder to third base. Justin Turner fielded the ball and threw to second for the force, a very close play, and as Gardner slid into second — second-base umpire Jason Visconti called him out — he knocked Dodgers second baseman Max Muncy to the ground.

Your eyes went to the chaos at second, with Gardner clearly concerned over Muncy’s well-being. Then you noticed Torres, who had reached third as Muncy held the ball on the ground, heading toward home.

“For sure, I saw an opportunity to get a score,” said Torres, who probably will receive a phone call from a Major League Baseball official discussing his post-game comments.

Torres was perhaps a quarter of the way down the third-base line — thanks to Twitter video/audio stud @Jomboy_ for creating a GIF of the moment — when home-plate umpire Gabe Morales put up his hands, calling time and ordering Torres back to third.

“Gabe said he killed it,” Boone said. “Just looking back, Kenley held his hands up. It looked to me like Gleyber had already started down the line with the man on the field.”

Oh, and just to spice it up some more? Muncy admitted afterward, “I was hurting, but there was a little bit of acting there, too. I stayed down a little longer.” That’ll definitely hurt Muncy’s chances of receiving a goodwill gift from Gardner.

To further cloud matters, both teams challenged rulings on the play, the Yankees contending Gardner was safe and the Dodgers contending Gardner made an illegal slide. The Yankees prevailed on that one, giving them the bases loaded with one out. Yet Jensen, whose struggles this season have been well documented, recovered to strike out both Mike Tauchman and Gary Sanchez, saving the day, thrilling the crowd and placing more of a focus on the big play.

“We’ll certainly inquire with everyone and try to get a good explanation,” Boone said, conveying the image of diligence, yet the umpires committed no misapplication of the rules here. They made a judgment call, albeit a questionable one.

Nah, give it up, Yankees fans. Sometimes the breaks don’t go your way.

“We move on and hopefully go get a series tomorrow,” Boone said, and that’s exactly — and all — the Yankees should do.

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