Red Sox to File Formal Protest over Missed Interference Call vs. Yankees

Boston Red Sox manager John Farrell said the team will go through with its formal protest over an alleged missed interference call in Saturday's 4-1 loss to the New York Yankees.

"We still firmly believe there was interference on the play, and if it goes unaddressed or without any further attention brought to it, who's to say you can't instruct runners to do the same going forward?" Farrell said Sunday, per the Associated Press.

The Red Sox say Yankees designated hitter Matt Holliday interfered with an attempted force out on a Jacoby Ellsbury ground ball in the top of the 11th inning. Holliday, who was on first base, took off for second but retreated to first after Red Sox first baseman Mitch Moreland fielded the ball and threw it to second.

Holliday slid back to the bag, which prevented Moreland from fielding shortstop Xander Bogaerts' throw. The Yankees slugger said he thought Moreland was going to step on first base after he fielded the grounder.

"I assumed that he was going to tag the base and throw to second for the tag," Holliday told reporters. "So I wasn't going to run into the tag. I mean, as soon as he hits the ball, I'm thinking, 'Ellsbury's running; he's going to touch the base and try to get the tag at second.' That's what I thought was happening."

The Red Sox played the rest of the game under protest. Their complaint will land in the hands of Major League Baseball, which is unlikely to rule in Boston's favor.

The Yankees did not score in the top of the 11th, so the play had no material affect on the outcome of the game. Under MLB rules, a game can only be replayed if the umpires misapplied the rules and the play in question affected the protesting team's chance to win.