What happened? McCann, A's derailed by wacky play at the plate

ANAHEIM -- Max Schuemann’s double in the second inning appeared to have provided the A’s an early two-run lead on Wednesday afternoon.

Then, confusion struck.

Armando Alvarez raced around from second base to score the first run. Trailing him from first base was Kyle McCann, who stumbled and nearly fell just a few feet before home plate. McCann kept himself upright but seemingly missed the plate in the process. After going back to touch the plate, home-plate umpire John Bacon pointed at McCann and called him out, then pointed at Alvarez.

So, what exactly happened? Before McCann went to touch home, he made contact with Alvarez, who saw he missed the plate and pushed him back toward home. Per MLB Rule 6.01(a)(5): Batter or Runner Interference applies when any batter or runner who has just been put out, or any runner who has just scored, hinders or impedes any following play being made on a runner. Such runner shall be declared out for the interference of his teammate.

Crew Chief Alan Porter explained the call to a pool reporter after the game.

"The runner failed to touch home plate on his way by,” Porter said. “Not a problem. But then he was assisted by the runner that scored. The fact he missed the plate already, he needs to go back and touch [home]. Prior to going back to retouch, he was assisted by the runner. So that makes him out. … A player cannot physically assist another player.”

A’s manager Mark Kotsay challenged the ruling that McCann did not touch home plate, but the call was confirmed and upheld. Instead of a two-run double for Schuemann, it went down as an RBI double, with McCann’s baserunning miscue ending the inning.

The implications of that lost challenge were felt greatly in what ended up a 5-2 loss to the Angels at Angel Stadium. Holding a 1-0 lead in the sixth, A’s starter Joey Estes nearly picked off Luis Rengifo at first base for what would have been the first out of the inning. Rengifo was called safe, though replays on the television broadcast showed a convincing angle that suggested Tyler Soderstrom may have applied a tag on a sliding Rengifo just before he got back to the bag.

While Estes struck out two consecutive batters in Taylor Ward and Miguel Sanó shortly after that, he was pulled after issuing a two-out walk to Willie Calhoun, which gave way to a five-run rally for the Halos that made all the difference in Wednesday’s series finale.

“It was a big play,” Kotsay said. “Talking to [McCann], he was anticipating sliding, and that’s what he should have done. If you’ve got that thought, you’ve got to slide. These are things we need to clean up. It’s a mental error more than a physical error. … Unfortunately, it cost us a run and an opportunity to continue adding on.”

A runner getting called out for not stepping on home plate is not uncommon. It happened to Yoan Moncada with the White Sox in 2021. The specificness of Wednesday’s occurrence, however -- being called out as a result of being assisted by a teammate -- feels a bit rare. Porter, a Major League umpire since 2010, had never seen it before. Neither had players and coaches on both clubs.

“I’ve never seen that happen before,” said Angels shortstop Zach Neto. “Only like in MLB The Show or something. … I was holding the ball to make sure [Schuemann] didn't go to third. And then they're saying that the guy’s out at home.”

From McCann’s perspective, his initial plan rounding third was to slide into home.

“I was going to dive head first,” McCann said. “I heard, ‘Up, up up,’ so I tried to stop myself when I should have just went ahead and slid. My hesitation cost us.”

In the end, the A’s lost their 11th consecutive game on the road, matching their second-longest road losing streak since 1996. It was a sour ending that was emblematic of this three-game sweep for Oakland, with lack of executing fundamentals an issue throughout the series.

“We had a chance [earlier in the game] with runners at first and second with nobody out to get a bunt down and maybe get two guys in scoring position but we hit into a double play,” Kotsay said. “There’s a lot of mental mistakes that we made today and throughout the series that we need to clean up and address.”