BALTIMORE — Aaron Boone said he made a mistake in the top of the eighth inning Monday night in the Yankees’ loss to the Orioles, when he was ruled to have taken too long to call for a review. The manager said he should have done so “almost immediately.”
On the controversial play, which wasn’t reviewed, Judge was thrown out at third after a Gio Urshela single. Umpires ruled Judge had been tagged before DJ LeMahieu crossed the plate with what would have been the Yankees’ third run in their 4-2 loss. Boone said even if it had been reviewed, it likely wouldn’t have changed the outcome of either call.
“At that point in the game, I should be more aggressive with that,” Boone said before Tuesday’s game. “It’s not a normal challenge when you’re just looking at [one play]. It was a two-prong play.”
Boone said he was paying attention to home plate umpire Will Little and not crew chief Greg Gibson at first base. Gibson said Boone had run out of time and then ejected him when the manager came out to argue.
Regulations state managers have 20 seconds to challenge a play, with the clock starting after the initial call is made.
Boone said he talked to Mike Hill, the senior vice president of on-field operations for MLB, about the procedure.
“I wanted to share my side of things,’’ Boone said.
Boone added he would have challenged the play at the plate, since the Yankees had determined that Judge was out at third. But even then, LeMahieu’s run might not have counted.
“I shouldn’t have let it get down [that far],’’ Boone said of the clock.
Right-hander Michael King was recalled from the alternate site Tuesday, replacing Deivi Garcia on the roster. Garcia was optioned back to the alternate site following Monday’s loss, when Garcia gave up two runs in four innings.
The Yankees’ offensive woes have gotten so deep they’re even impacting LeMahieu, who has seemed slump-proof at times since joining the Yankees.
LeMahieu has gone the other way less frequently this season than in his first two years with the Yankees. Boone pointed to pitch selection as a potential reason.
“He’s been a little less selective on some things,” Boone said of LeMahieu, who entered Tuesday in a 2-for-20 slide. “He’s swinging at things that are inclined to get you to put the ball on the ground on the pull side.”
That has resulted in more grounders to shortstop and more double plays.
“Any time you’re talking about DJ, he’s such an elite hitter, when he’s not quite up to where he usually is, it’s always a little bit surprising,’’ Boone said.
“It’s a reminder … how difficult hitting is sometimes,” Boone said. “I’m confident he’s close to getting there.”
LeMahieu and the benched Gary Sanchez were hardly the only Yankees in the throes of lengthy droughts.
Gleyber Torres was 6-for-33 with no extra-base hits and Hicks was 4-for-33, although two of those hits were homers. Frazier was 2-for-37 with 17 strikeouts, but the Yankees point to his nine walks as a positive sign. And Gardner was 1-for-19.
