Red Sox replay controversy against Yankees should look painfully familiar to Pirates fans

Pittsburgh Pirates fans watching the replay controversy that helped send Sunday’s Boston Red Sox-New York Yankees game off the rails might have experienced a little déjà vu.

After all, Pittsburgh had its own frustrating encounter with the Yankee Stadium replay system barely a month ago — and, strangely enough, Jazz Chisholm Jr. was right in the middle of both.

Boston and New York were scoreless in the fifth inning Sunday when Red Sox center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela made what he believed was a diving catch on a sinking liner from Chisholm. First-base umpire Edwin Moscoso ruled the ball had been trapped, however, and Boston challenged.

After replay review, the call stood. Replay officials simply determined there wasn't enough evidence to overturn the ruling on the field, even though Rafaela remained adamant afterward that he had made the catch. The Yankees proceeded to score five runs in the inning and eventually turned a scoreless game into a 16-1 rout.

Pirates fans have already seen Yankees benefit from same replay controversy that screwed Red Sox

Pirates fans don't have to go very far back to remember how aggravating those words — the ruling on the field stands — can be. On July 22 at Yankee Stadium, Pittsburgh trailed New York 2-0 with two outs in the ninth inning when Ryan O'Hearn chopped a ground ball to second base. Chisholm fielded it but had trouble getting the ball out of his glove before throwing to first, where O'Hearn was ruled out to end the game.

Replay footage appeared to show O'Hearn beating the tag. The Pirates challenged. Once again, the ruling stood. Instead of the replay review extending Pittsburgh's last chance at a comeback with the tying run aboard, the Yankees walked off the field with a 2-0 victory.

The situations weren't identical. Boston still had plenty of opportunities to recover Sunday and instead allowed the disputed call to become the beginning of a five-run inning. Pittsburgh's July controversy was much more final, as the replay decision literally ended the game. But the frustration is remarkably similar.

Replay was introduced to eliminate obviously incorrect calls in pivotal situations. Instead, sometimes it leaves players, managers and fans staring at slow-motion video while being told there isn't enough evidence to change what they thought they just saw.

Rafaela and the Red Sox learned that lesson Sunday. The Pirates learned it against the exact same opponent — in the exact same ballpark — on July 22.

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