Toronto Star
· collected 2026-10-08 · by Ronald Blum The Associated Press
Victor Mesa Jr.’s tiebreaking home run and a fan interference call helped the Tampa Bay Rays defeat the New York Yankees 4-3 on Wednesday night, completing a three-game sweep in their American League Division Series. The call came when Anthony Volpe hit what appeared to be a two-run homer, but video review showed the ball would not have cleared the fence without the fan’s interference. This series win marks Tampa Bay's first appearance in the AL Championship Series since 2020 and comes despite New York having MLB’s third-highest payroll this season.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-08,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
On Wednesday night in ALDS Game 3 at Yankee Stadium, Anthony Volpe hit what initially appeared to be a game-tying two-run home run for the Yankees against the Tampa Bay Rays with the score tied at 4. However, after a lengthy review, umpires determined that a fan had interfered with the ball as it was being attempted to be caught by Victor Mesa Jr. The ruling overturned Volpe's homer and instead awarded him an RBI double, scoring George Lombard Jr. from first base, trimming the Rays' lead to 4-3. This call echoed a similar incident in 1996 when Jeffrey Maier interfered with a ball hit by Derek Jeter during the ALCS, which was allowed to stand as a home run at the time. The Yankees eventually lost Game 3 and were swept from the series by the Rays.
Written for “Yankees Fan Interference Controversy” on 2026-10-08,
grounded in this article and the 5 other(s) covering the same event.
NEW YORK (AP) — Victor Mesa Jr. hit a tiebreaking, two-run homer off Max Fried in the sixth inning, and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the New York Yankees 4-3 on Wednesday night with the help of a fan interference call for a three-game sweep of their AL Division Series.
asserted
Rays → hit → Series
Ryan Vilade also homered for the Rays, who reached the American League Championship Series for the first time since 2020 and host the Chicago White Sox or Cleveland Guardians in the opener on Monday.
asserted
who → homer → Monday
After Mesa’s homer gave the Rays a 4-2 lead, Anthony Volpe appeared to hit a two-run shot against Griffin Jax with two outs in the bottom half as a fan reached over the left-field wall and caught the ball over the glove of a leaping Mesa.
asserted
fan → give → Mesa
A video review determined the ball would not have cleared the fence but would not have been caught by Mesa.
asserted
ball → determine → Mesa
Volpe was awarded an RBI double and George Lombard Jr. was allowed to score from first base.
asserted
Jr. → award → base
Jax recovered to strike out Spencer Jones.
asserted
Jax → recover → Jones
Lombard reached with a one-out walk when a 3-1 pitch called a strike by plate umpire Dan Bellino was ruled inside on an ABS challenge.
asserted
pitch → reach → challenge
Austin Wells then walked on full-count changeup but an ABS challenge by Rays catcher Liam Hicks ruled the pitch caught the inside corner for a strikeout, bringing up Volpe.
asserted
pitch → walk → Volpe
Quite a change from 1996, when umpires did not have technology to assist and Derek Jeter’s homer for the Yankees helped turn around the ALCS opener despite young fan Jeffrey Meier reaching over the right-field wall where Baltimore’s Tony Tarasco was set to catch the ball.
asserted
Tarasco → have → ball
MLB began using video replay for home run calls in 2008 and allowed challenges to ball/strike decisions starting this year.
asserted
MLB → begin → decisions
Ian Seymour pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings for the win, Kevin Kelly struck out pinch-hitter Giancarlo Stanton to strand a runner in the eighth and Bryan Baker pitched the ninth for his third save of the series.
asserted
Baker → pitch → series
Seeking its first World Series title, Tampa Bay celebrated on the field of the big-spending Yankees for the second time in two weeks after clinching the AL East on Sept. 22.
asserted
Bay → seek → Sept.
New York opened the season with MLB’s third-highest payroll at $303 million while the Rays were 26th at $91 million.
asserted
Rays → open → million
Swept in a best-of-five postseason matchup for the first time since the 1980 ALCS against Kansas City, the Yankees ended their 17th straight season without a World Series crown.
asserted
Yankees → sweep → crown
That equaled their longest drought since winning their first championship in 1923, a gap between titles in 1978 and ‘96.
asserted
That → equal → 1978
Yankees captain Aaron Judge missed the postseason after straining a calf on Sept. 16.
asserted
Judge → miss → Sept.
The three-time AL MVP played just seven games after May 31 because of a fractured rib and the leg injury, an absence the team couldn’t overcome.
uncertain
team → play → rib
New York batted .130 in the series and was outscored 10-5.
asserted
York → bat → series
After sweeping Boston in the Wild Card Series, New York never led against the Rays and has not advanced past a higher-seeded team in the postseason since 2020.
asserted
York → sweep → 2020
Jonathan Aranda put the Rays ahead with an RBI single in the third and Ben Rice tied the score against Nick Martinez with a single in the bottom half, his eighth RBI of the postseason.
asserted
Rice → put → postseason
Vilade, a 27-year-old getting extensive big league playing time this year with his sixth major league organization, hit an opposite-field, 340-foot drive into the right-field short porch in the fourth.
asserted
Vilade → get → fourth
The ball, just over the glove of a jumping Jones, would not have been out of any other big league ballpark.
asserted
ball → jump → ballpark
Volpe, starting at second base in place of Jazz Chisholm Jr., hit a 96.6 mph liner off Martinez’s back with two outs in the fourth for an infield single, and Seymour relieved.
asserted
Seymour → start → single
Jones’ opposite-field double landed beyond Mesa, driving in Volpe.
asserted
double → land → Volpe
Junior Caminero singled in the sixth and Mesa sent a sweeper deep into the right-field seats to chase Fried.
asserted
Mesa → single → Fried
It was the first home run he allowed to a left-handed hitter since August 2025.
asserted
he → allow → August
Up next
Tampa Bay gets four days off and will have played just three games in 14 days before starting the ALCS.
asserted
Bay → get → ALCS
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