HOUSTON (AP) — Houston’s Kyle Tucker was ejected Thursday night for attempting to steal home while New York Yankees starter Luis Severino tinkered with his faulty PitchCom device.
Alex Bregman had just hit a double-run double to give Houston a 2-0 lead and Tucker was in third place with two outs in the third inning.
With Yuli Gurriel batting, a frustrated Severino took off his cap and held the PitchCom speaker to his ear, apparently unable to hear instructions from catcher Jose Trevino.
Tucker saw that Severino was distracted and tried to sneak home† Severino had the PitchCom earpiece in his right hand and had to maneuver quickly to get the baseball back in his throwing hand. He threw home still holding his cap, and his delivery narrowly beat Tucker to end the inning.
The PitchCom digital pitch-calling devices, which send signals from the catcher to the pitcher, were introduced to the majors this season. The system is designed to stop plate stealing in the wake of the Astros scandal in 2017.
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