Why Washington Nationals Unusual Triple Play Wasn’t Reviewed or Reversed

That didn’t satisfy Mets fans, who were grabbing alternate angles of the play and pointing out, perhaps correctly, that Lowe didn’t catch the ball in the air.

The ruling was that Lowe caught it in the air and the play stood. What appeared to frustrate Mets fans is that manager Carlos Mendoza didn’t challenge the call.

Well, in the aftermath of the game, MASN Sports' Bobby Blanco dug in and reported that fly balls and line drives in the infield are not reviewable, by rule. For the play to be reversed, one of the other umpires would have had to overrule the first base umpire, Alfonso Márquez, who is also the crew chief.

Mendoza was understandably frustrated after the game.

“That they had a catch. It was a line drive in the infield and was not reviewable,” Mendoza said to reporters and conveyed by MASN. “Frustrating, obviously, because we all saw what happened. And I'm not blaming Alfonso, because he's the one behind the play. But the other three, someone's got to see that play. A tough break for us there.”

Had it been called a ground ball, the complexion of what became the Nationals’ third triple play in team history would have changed — and not just because it would have been a ground ball.

“I was late getting over, so we were screwed if that ball hit the ground,” Nats starting pitcher Jake Irvin said. “I actually didn't really know what was happening, because it just all happened so quick. But I heard Nate yell, 'I got it, give me that.’ And I figured that he had caught the ball, and the rest is history.”