NEW YORK — For the New York Yankees, it was almost deja vu all over again, to paraphrase Yogi Berra -- but with a different result.
Fan interference during the sixth inning of Wednesday night’s ALDS game at Yankee Stadium robbed Anthony Volpe of a game-tying, two-run home run. It allowed the Tampa Bay Rays to hold on for a series-clinching 4-3 victory in Game 3.
With Tampa Bay leading 4-2, Volpe hit a long fly ball to left field and Rays outfielder Victor Mesa Jr. ran to the wall, ESPN reported. He jumped near the fence and the ball disappeared into the stands, seemingly jolting the Yankees back into the game with a two-run homer.
Not so fast.
With Mesa and the Rays pleading for a fan interference call, the umpiring crew huddled together. After MLB’s video replay center determined that a fan interfered with the batted ball by sticking his hands over the wall onto the field of play, the home run was overturned and ruled an RBI double, according to The Athletic.
That made the score 4-3, with the potential tying run at second base.
After replay review, the Yankees pull within a run on Anthony Volpe's RBI double! https://t.co/6Fua0LNVBQ
— MLB (@MLB) October 8, 2026
“Seeing the replay and seeing it unfold, I thought they did the right thing,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said after the game. “I thought they got it right.”
Rays reliever Griffin Jax then struck out Spencer Jones, who followed Volpe, to end the inning. The Rays were able to protect their 4-3 lead and advanced to the American League Championship Series, The Athletic reported.
The play was eerily similar to another Yankees playoff game three decades ago.
On Oct. 9, 1996, 12-year-old Jeffrey Maier reached over Baltimore right fielder Tony Tarasco and interfered with a fly ball hit by Derek Jeter during Game 1 of the ALCS at the old Yankee Stadium across the street from the current ballpark, ESPN reported.
Right field umpire Rich Garcia ruled there was no fan interference and Jeter’s fly ball was ruled a game-tying home run. There was no replay mechanism in place at the time, so the call stood.
New York would win the game in the 11th inning on Bernie Williams’ walk-off home run, and would advance to the World Series after winning the ALCS four games to one.
That did not happen Wednesday.
Yankee Stadium security personnel quickly reached the fan and whisked him out of the section and escorted him out of the park, The Athletic reported.
“It was interference,” Mesa said in Spanish, according to ESPN. “I believe I might have even been able to get to that ball. Not that it matters whether we won or lost. Well, it’s in the past now. I think they could have even called an out, because I was right there. Everything happens for a reason. It was kind of an in-between call.”
MLB issued a statement to explain the decision, The Athletic reported.
“After viewing all relevant angles, the Replay Official definitively determined the spectator interfered with the ball over the field of play,” the statement read. “The ball would not have left the playing field nor would it have been caught. The call is OVERTURNED, there was spectator interference and no home run. Additionally, the Replay Official scored one run and placed the batter-runner at second base.”
“I don’t know if (Mesa) would have caught it or not caught it, the guy would have scored or not,” Rays manager Kevin Cash told reporters. “Our replay official Nick (Rogers) said the runner had passed second base at the point where the ball hit the fan’s wrist or hand, and makes sense why they awarded him home.”
“I was down the third-base line, happened to get a good look,” Rays president of baseball operations Erik Neander told The Athletic. “The ball got up high enough. I knew the flags were pushing that way. Mesa is as good as anybody. Watching him drift and drift, I was like, (expletive), the wind’s gonna take that one. And it did. Thankfully, it didn’t take it another foot or half of a foot.”
“You go from a tie game to down one,” said New York starting pitcher Max Fried, who gave up a two-run homer to Mesa in the top of the sixth inning that gave Tampa Bay a 4-2 lead. “(Volpe) made a great swing, and it’s just the way the game goes sometimes. It’s unfortunate because that changes the game.”
© 2026 Cox Media Group
