Rays complete a 4-3 sweep after replay turns Volpe's apparent homer into a double

The Rays beat the Yankees 4-3 Wednesday night and swept their American League Division Series in three games. The final margin survived a sixth-inning replay that removed an apparent tying home run from Anthony Volpe's line.

Tampa Bay led 4-2 with George Lombard Jr. on first when Volpe drove a 1-0 pitch toward the left-center-field wall. The call on the field was a two-run home run. Replay showed a fan's hands crossing over the wall and contacting the ball above the field of play.

Why the double was the right placement

The replay crew overturned the home-run call and awarded Volpe an RBI double. Lombard scored, cutting the Rays' lead to 4-3. MLB's official play record describes the result as a double on fan interference.

MLB also reported that left fielder Victor Mesa Jr. would not have caught the ball without the interference. That detail explains why Volpe was not ruled out. The spectator-interference rule makes the ball dead and lets the umpires place the batter and runners where they judge they would have ended up without the interference.

A home run was not automatic merely because the ball reached the wall. The fan contacted it from the field side of the barrier before it cleared untouched. With the catch judged unavailable, second base for Volpe and home for Lombard were a reasonable attempt to remove the fan's action from the play.

The ruling did not end the inning

The ruling did not make the third out. Spencer Jones came to the plate with Volpe at second and the Yankees down one, then struck out to end the inning. New York still had three more offensive innings and did not score again.

Volpe batted once more in the ninth and struck out. The interference play changed a tying homer into a run-scoring double, but it did not take away the Yankees' remaining chances or create Tampa Bay's four runs.

The final belongs to Tampa Bay

The Rays earned the final line in the correct order: Tampa Bay 4, New York 3. They leave the Bronx with a 3-0 series win. The replay is the game's enduring argument, and the official record supports the placement the umpires made.