Orioles seek changes after controversial replay call costs Alonso HR

The Baltimore Orioles were left seething after a controversial replay call may have robbed them of a potential go-ahead run.

With the game tied 3-3 in the bottom of the seventh inning, designated hitter Pete Alonso crushed a long fly ball that prompted a crew chief review to see if it was fair or foul. Although it appeared the fly ball passed overtop and to the left of the pole - which would be a home run - MLB's command center ruled it a foul ball, to the shock of everyone wearing orange and black at Camden Yards.

(Video source: MLB.com)

Alonso ended up striking out, and the Orioles ended up losing 5-3 to the New York Yankees.

Many members of the Orioles, including manager Craig Albernaz, insisted the replay center got the call wrong. Albernaz cited the team's internal ball-tracking data that showed it was clearly fair.

"You never know what they're gonna rule, but I was really surprised that it came back 'stands,'" Albernaz said, per MASN. "I mean, the first thing is, on the dugout iPads there's ball-tracking data with the field that the players see. So it's really tough to have that come back as 'stands,' and have that visual in the dugout as well.

"It's 2026 - (I) think technology has advanced pretty good. There was teams using AI on the iPads. Other sports use ball-tracking data for challengeable calls. Don't understand why we don't do it."

In a statement to MLB.com's Jake Rill, MLB's Replay Operations Center in New York explained that the call stood as foul because "the Replay Official could not definitively determine that the ball left the playing field in fair territory."

The Orioles, like many teams, use the Hawk-Eye tracking system - the same system used for ABS challenges - internally to track how and where balls are hit. Alonso cited Hawk-Eye's findings when explaining his shock at the ruling.

"Looking at the video, the view from where the camera was pointing straight down the line ... it was to the right of the yellow in the pole, so I thought it was fair," Alonso said. "What I was told was, in order to overturn a call, you need to have two camera angles to confirm it. But the best view - there's an only view that shows the ball fair or foul - is the one down the line, but no camera angle is available."

Alonso wants MLB to begin using NFL-style cameras to help get these kinds of fair-foul rulings correct.

"I think a simple fix is like football. You have the pylon camera with the plain, where it shoots right across the goal line. I feel like for us, we could easily have a camera or a laser (on top of the foul pole) that shoots straight up," he said. "... We have all the technology, analytics, whatever, funds. I don't see why we can't do it, but the reason why I'm told that we can't do it ... is that every ballpark is unique. It's not the same dimensions everywhere."

Baltimore starter Chris Bassitt, the team's union representative and a member of the MLBPA's player subcommittee, offered a different reasoning for why the technology hasn't been adopted by MLB.

"Because it would cost money. That's it," Bassitt said, according to Matt Weyrich of the Baltimore Sun. "I mean, that's literally it. You ask every fan of this game, that's a true fan, every single fan would want those cameras. If you ask every single player, they would want those cameras. If you ask every coach, they want the cameras. It costs money. That's it. That's literally it."

The call and loss had major ramifications for the Orioles, who are trying to keep pace in the AL playoff race. Wednesday's loss dropped Baltimore 1.5 games behind the Minnesota Twins for the last AL wild-card spot.