Anthony Seigler crossed home plate from third base on a sacrifice fly on Monday night despite never tagging up, creating widespread bewilderment in Toronto.
The unusual score represented Boston's only run during a 2-1 defeat to the Blue Jays, occurring amid a chaotic double play that led to a 17-minute delay while officials worked through the rules.
Although there was only one out when Ceddanne Rafaela hit a flyball to center field during the seventh inning, the scoreboard displayed two outs. Seigler advanced toward home plate and Nick Sogard ran from first base while the ball remained in the air. After the catch, Toronto threw to first base to double up Sogard for the third out.
Umpires convened and checked in with MLB's replay center. Crew chief Chris Guccione described it as a timing play rather than a force play. Since Seigler reached home before Sogard was retired, and Toronto did not appeal the third-base runner's premature exit, the Red Sox were awarded the run.
"We felt like it was our obligation to correct the error for not scoring the run originally," Guccione said.
Blue Jays manager John Schneider said the rule means the run counts if the runner from third scores before the out at first, adding: "Now, if we had just thrown the ball to third instead of first, obviously different story."