Ángel Hernández has had three calls overturned in ALDS Game 3 already - MLB

We’re just through three innings of Game 3 of the ALDS between the Red Sox and Yankees as I write this and first base umpire Ángel Hernández has already had two of his calls overturned thanks to replay review.

The first controversial call occurred in the bottom of the second inning. After Giancarlo Stanton singled to lead off the frame, Didi Gregorius laid down a bunt to the left side. Starter Nathan Eovaldi was a bit slow off the mound and his throw appeared to be just a bit too late to get the out at first base. Hernández ruled Gregorius safe, but the Red Sox challenged and the ruling was overturned.

In the bottom of the third inning, leadoff batter Gleyber Torres hit a grounder to shortstop Xander Bogaerts. Bogaerts had to make the throw to first base across his body with his momentum taking him towards left field. The throw appeared to both come in late and pull Steve Pearce off the bag, but Torres was ruled out by Hernández. The Yankees challenged and the ruling was overturned.

Hernández has actually had three calls overturned in the series. In the top of the seventh inning of Game 2, after Giancarlo Stanton chopped a grounder to shortstop, Hernández ruled that the throw from Eduardo Núñez to Ian Kinsler pulled Kinsler off the second base bag, which would have given the Yankees a bases-loaded, no-out situation. The Red Sox challenged and the call was overturned. Of course, Gary Sánchez followed up by hitting a home run.

Hernández is slated to work the plate in Game 4, so that should be interesting. I’m at the point where if Hernández told me two plus two equals four, I might have to math it out on the back of an envelope real quick.

Update (9:35 PM ET): Another Hernández call was overturned in the fourth inning on a bang-bang play at first when Didi Gregorius was able to avoid being doubled up on a sharp ground ball to second base. The was another play involving Hernández’s ruling to start the inning. It was not overturned, so Hernández has a 25 percent success rate on calls gone to replay review in this game alone.

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PITTSBURGH – When he’s on, Rich Hill‘s pitches still dance. They still dart. They go this way. Then that way. They can baffle hitters with their movement, particularly the ones that don’t come close to breaking the speed limit on most interstates.

In a game that seems to get faster each year, Hill is a throwback. A survivor. At 43 and 19 years into a career he figured would have been over long ago, the well-traveled left-hander knows he’s essentially playing on borrowed time.

Hill is in Pittsburgh to show a young staff how to be a pro while occasionally showing the kids he can still bring it. That example was on display in a 2-1 victory over St. Louis on Sunday that gave Pittsburgh a three-game sweep of its longtime NL Central nemesis.

Knowing the bullpen needed a bit of a break, Hill (5-5) kept the Cardinals off balance for 6 2/3 innings, expertly weaving in and out of trouble with a series of curveballs that hover around 70 mph offset by a fastball that can touch 90 mph but plays up because everything else comes in so much softer.

Hill walked three and struck out six while giving up just one run, a seventh-inning homer by Andrew Knizner that drew the Cardinals within one. He allowed the leadoff hitter to reach in the first four innings and stranded them all as the Pirates pushed their winning streak to five.

“He threw the pitches he wanted to throw,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “They didn’t swing at them. The fact that he’s able to just bounce back and continue to execute shows how savvy he is as a veteran.”

Ji Hwan Bae‘s two-run single off Miles Mikolas (4-2) in the first provided all the offense Hill would need as Pittsburgh swept St. Louis for the first time in five years. Ke'Bryan Hayes singled three times and is hitting .562 (9 for 16) over his last four games after a 3-for-32 funk dropped him to seventh in the batting order.

David Bednar worked the ninth for his 13th save and third in as many days, striking out Knizner with a 98 mph fastball that provided an exclamation point to three days of tight, meaningful baseball, the kind the Pirates haven’t played much of for the better part of a decade.

“We know we have a very good team,” Hill said. “We’ve had meetings in here and we talk about it and reinforce it and just continue to go out there and give that effort every single night and understand that (if) we continue to put in the work, it’ll start to show every night on the field.”

Tommy Edman had two hits for the Cardinals, and designated hitter Luken Baker picked up the first two hits of his career after being called up from Triple-A Memphis early Sunday.

The middle of the St. Louis lineup – Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Gorman and Nolan Arenado – went a combined 0 for 11 as St. Louis lost for the fifth time in six games. The Cardinals left 27 men on base at PNC Park over the weekend to fall back into last place in one of the weakest divisions in the majors.

It’s a division the Pirates – coming off back-to-back 100-loss seasons – are managing to hang around the top of for a solid two months. The bullpen has evolved into a strength, with Bednar at the back end and a series of flashy hard throwers like Dauri Moreta in the middle.

Moreta came on for Hill with two outs in the seventh and struck out Goldschmidt with the tying run at first while Hill was in the dugout accepting high-fives, already thinking about his next start, likely on Saturday against the New York Mets. It’s a mindset that has kept Hill around for far longer than he ever imagined.

“Every time he picks up a baseball, I know he feels blessed to be able to continue to throw baseballs for a living,” Pirates catcher Austin Hedges said. “I think that’s one of the best things he can teach our young guys.”

UP NEXT

Cardinals: Continue a six-game road trip in Texas against the Rangers on Monday. Adam Wainwright (2-1, 6.15 ERA) faces Martín Pérez (6-1, 4.43 ERA) in the opener.

Pirates: A season-long nine-game homestand continues on Monday when lowly Oakland visits. Johan Oviedo (3-4, 4.50 ERA) gets the start against JP Sears (0-3, 4.37 ERA).