The Red Sox and Rays spend 20 minutes confused about lineup moves, a breakdown
What Happened
In a bizarre 20-minute sequence, the Tampa Bay Rays and Boston Red Sox struggle to sort out their lineup changes, leaving both teams and the umpires thoroughly confused. The action begins with Rays left-hander Colin Poche coming in to face Red Sox leadoff hitter Mookie Betts. However, Rays manager Kevin Cash wants to bring in a right-handed pitcher to face Betts, but he doesn't want to lose Poche entirely. The issue is that when a pitcher enters the game as a fielder, he automatically loses his designated hitter status. Cash tries to navigate this tricky situation, with Austin Meadows coming out of the game and Yandy Díaz moving to first base, while Poche remains in the lineup. The umpires and both teams spend the next 20 minutes trying to sort out the legalities of the double-switch, with Cash repeatedly explaining the moves he's trying to make. "Cora's asking, 'They did that and they did that and they did that,'" the commentator notes, as the managers and umpires struggle to keep track of the lineup changes. Finally, they decide to just put Poche back on the mound to face Betts, who grounds out on one pitch to end the inning. "What a nightmare," the commentator exclaims. "20-minute nightmare, making this video was a nightmare." The episode highlights the complex rules surrounding lineup changes and double-switches in baseball, as well as the importance of clear communication between managers, umpires and the official scorekeepers. Despite the prolonged confusion, the Rays are ultimately able to get the matchup they wanted, with Poche facing the left-handed Betts and retiring him on a groundout.
Why This Matters
Kevin Cash tries to pull off some 4D chess by swapping pitchers without losing his lefty, but MLB rules don't work that way and nobody can figure out what's actually happening. Twenty minutes of pure chaos as both dugouts, the umps, and basically everyone involved scrambles to sort out who's pitching, who's fielding, and why the DH just disappeared.
Over half a million people watched this absolute mess unfold, making it a fan favorite breakdown despite ranking outside the top 600 all-time videos.
Key Moments
Who / What Is Involved
Players: Mookie Betts, Kevin Cash, Yandy Díaz, Yankees, Kevin. Teams: Red Sox, Rays.
Key Terms Mentioned
Full Transcript
Click timestamps to jump to that momentokay strap in for some stupid confusion
the Rays and Red Sox at a 20 minute
delay talking about the lineups cholera
is in he's a lefty he gets the first out
of the game Mookie Betts is coming up
he's a righty so he wants to bring in a
righty pitcher but he doesn't want to
lose the lefty pitcher because he wants
to use him again for the batter that's
coming up so when you take a pitcher and
you put him into the field you
automatically lose your D H so Austin
Meadows is out of here
colorectal to first base in the three
hole Roe replaces Choi in the nine hole
Roe is pitching Choi is out of the game
that's what just happened
core is asking he says they did that and
they did that and they did that and they
did that and here we go all right Chad's
row face and Mookie Betts crazy slider
their fastball there and then he's gonna
get the job done with another nice
off-speed pitch catch is made so now
there's no use for roe anymore they want
to put the lefty pitcher back on the
mound
so Koehler ik and roe they're on the
move colorectal he stays in the three
hole Roe is leaving the game and they're
replacing him with Nate Lowe or Lao
however the [ __ ] you say it and he's at
first base and that is what happened
those are the moves I don't know where
the confusion is I think Korra didn't
know that you lose the D H automatically
and it had to be told to him and since
it wasn't told to him he thought the D H
was still in there but that's not legal
that's what I think happened they spent
20 minutes I don't know why the umpires
got so confused they called the league
office this is a move the Rays have done
before the Yankees have done this before
Maddon and the Cubs and he's done it
before
they spent 20 minutes talking about this
20 like 25 minutes actually just kept
talking hey we're really confused
they're trying to figure it out they got
red strings everywhere
he's like yellow guys I do this a lot I
don't know what's going on right here
finally they're like you know what let's
just play ball here we go
Koehler akin versus the lefty just what
they wanted one pitch ground
out end of inning what a nightmare 20
minute nightmare making this video was a
nightmare
the nightmare