Yankees broadcaster Michael Kay was “flabbergasted” at the official scorekeeper’s decision to change an error to a hit and end Max Fried’s bid for a no-hitter.
Kay was incredulous as he announced to the YES Network audience that official scorer Bill Matthews had changed how the ground ball that Rays outfielder Chandler Simpson had hit in the bottom of the sixth inning, from what was originally ruled an error on Paul Goldschmidt to a hit.
“No you didn’t miss a batter. I am absolutely flabbergasted, ladies and gentlemen,” Kay came out of a commercial break saying. “The scorekeeper here at Steinbrenner Field, a man by the name of Bill Matthews, has changed the Simpson E3 into a hit while the Yankees were in the dugout. Just unfathomable.
“Either you call it when it happens, you don’t wait three innings to go by. It’s just unbelievable. … [Matthews] is going to have a lot of questions thrown at him and he’s going to have to give some pretty good answers. I can’t believe this has happened.”
Fried gave up a hit to start the bottom of the eighth inning and effectively rendered the scoring change inconsequential in the end.
The Yankees’ pitcher ended up throwing 7 ⅔ innings while only allowing two hits and the Bronx Bombers came away with the win, 4-0, over the Rays.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone said that “the reality is it was a hit” when he spoke with reporters after the chaotic game.
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“I scratch my head at the official scorers nightly,” Boone told reporters. “They throw an error at Yankee Stadium up on the board at Yankee Stadium and then we go to these other places and they can fire up a hit with the best of them. It’s a different game in every other park, it really is.”
The Yanks’ skipper did add that the scorers do have a “thankless job,” but did reiterate that he had “some issues” from time to time with how things are scored.
Sunday wasn’t the first time that the Rays’ official scorer had found himself in the spotlight over a play that he scored.
Back in 2011, Matthews had ruled a play a hit rather than an error while Felix Hernandez was throwing a no-hitter for the Mariners against Tampa, which ended that bid in the eighth inning, according to a Seattle Times article.
Similar to Fried’s situation, the potential controversy was somewhat diminished when the Rays recorded another hit later that inning.