Tampa and Boston played at Fenway on June 9, 2025. In the top of the fourth, the Rays had Yandy Díaz on second base and Jonathan Aranda on first with no outs when Junior Caminero, batting against Brayan Bello, hit a towering fly on the third base side of home plate. Plate umpire Junior Valentine and third base ump Ryan Blakney invoked the Infield Fly rule. Sox third baseman Marcel Mayer came in on the ball but missed it as the ball fell to the ground in fair territory. Catcher Connor Wong retrieved the ball and fired to shortstop Trevor Story covering third base. Story, apparently thinking that Díaz was forced, stepped on the base but Blakney called Díaz safe because Story failed to tag Díaz. Story fired to Kristian Campbell at second base who tagged Aranda and was called out by umpire Tripp Gibson.

Ruleball Comments

⦁ When the IFR is invoked, the batter is out but runners are not forced to advance because the batter-runner never occupies first base which creates the force.
⦁ When runners attempt to advance in an IFR situation, they must be tagged because no runner is forced because the batter-runner never occupies first base as stated.
⦁ The objective of the rule is to protect the runners from guileful acts on the part of defensive players that can allow the defensive team to turn a double play or triple play.
⦁ The fly ball must be a fair ball that can be caught with ordinary effort by an infielder. In the above play, if the ball had rolled and settled in foul territory without Mayer or Wong touching the ball in fair territory, the ball would have been ruled foul even though the IFR was invoked by the umpires.
⦁ Story was required to tag Díaz because the force was removed as soon as the umpires invoked the IFR. Failure to tag Díaz might have impacted the outcome of the game. Because Díaz subsequently scored, this was critical as Tampa won in 11 innings, 10-8.
⦁ It’s unclear if Campbell was aware of the rule since he had a foot planted on second base like a fielder when making a force out. It appears that Story’s throw took Campbell into Aranda so it’s possible that Campbell had a little luck here.
⦁ If Story had tagged Díaz, the Red Sox would have recorded a triple play.
⦁ Defensively in such plays, it might be a good idea for the players on the field and the dugout personnel to yell, “TAG, TAG, TAG.”
⦁ From an offensive perspective, Díaz and Aranda were not required to advance. Did they know the rule?
⦁ Offensively, the runners and base coaches should be alert to the umpire/s call. Any of the four umpires can initially invoke the IFR. Bunts and line drives are not included in the rule.
⦁ Caminaro made a common mistake that batters make when they hit a fly ball in the area of the plate. He remained in the batter’s box while tracking the fly ball. This often leads to batter-runner interference. Once the ball was put in play, Caminaro was no longer a batter, he became a batter-runner and his job was to avoid Wong as he was pursuing the ball attempting to make a play.

Rich Marazzi

Rules consultant/analyst: Angels, Dodgers, Mets, Nationals, Orioles, Padres, Phillies, Pirates, Red Sox, Rangers, Royals, Tigers, Twins, White Sox, Yankees, YES, and Chicago Sports Network