Dodgers have nearly split the difference on replay challenges in 2014

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By Jon Weisman

Tuesday’s 9-5 victory over Arizona was a revelry of replay for the Dodgers, with two overturned calls in Los Angeles’ favor keying a six-run fourth inning.

Technically, the first challenge of the night, on the play at the plate involving Carl Crawford, was initiated by the umpires, but the next one, on Roberto Hernandez’s sacrifice bunt, came from the Dodgers and also went in their favor.

That gave the Dodgers 17 successful challenges in this first year of replay — which almost puts them dead even with the 19 overturned calls that have gone against them in 2014. However, the calls against the Dodgers have come more often in close games.

A first-inning safe call May 12 on Giancarlo Stanton was reversed. (Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)

Here are some replay bullet points:

• The Dodgers are 17-14 in replay challenges this season. Dodger opponents are 19-21.
• Los Angeles is 10-7 in games in which it has won a challenge, and 7-7 in games when it has lost a challenge.
• Dodger opponents are 10-8 in games when they win a challenge, and 5-15 when they have lost a challenge. (Note that some games have more than one challenge, with different results.)
• None of the previous eight umpire-initiated challenges in Dodger games this year had led to a reversal, good or bad, before Tuesday.
• The Dodgers have twice won five challenges in a row, from April 27-May 16 and from June 10-June 20. Their worst losing streak is three in a row, from July 12-31.
• Dodger opponents won five challenges in a row from May 1-22 and eight out of nine from May 1-June 6.

Umpires announce the reversal on May 12. (Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)

• Tuesday’s game proved that overturned calls can be critical even in a rout. However, it’s worth noting that only twice this year has an overturned call gone in the Dodgers’ favor in a victory of two runs or less.
  — May 12: Giancarlo Stanton was initially ruled safe at first but then called out in the top of the first inning of the Dodgers’ 6-5 victory over Miami.
  — June 14: Miguel Montero was initially ruled safe at first but then called out in the top of the first inning of the Dodgers’ 6-4 victory over Arizona.
  — Each of those instances left the bases empty with two out.
• Opponents’ challenges have been successful in five close Dodger losses.
  — April 15: Gregor Blanco was initially ruled out at first but then called safe leading off the bottom of the 10th inning at San Francisco. The Giants did not score, and the Dodgers lost that game in the 12th.
  — May 4: Yasiel Puig and Andre Ethier were on first and second with one out in the ninth inning of a 4-4 tie at Miami. (Ethier had doubled in the tying run.) Puig was initially ruled safe at second on an attempted force play on Hanley Ramirez’s grounder. The call was reversed, and the Dodgers did not score again that inning and lost in the bottom of the ninth.
  — May 11: Dee Gordon was initially ruled safe at first but then called out with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning against San Francisco with the Dodgers trailing, 3-2. Puig then singled, but did not score. A Hanley Ramirez home run in the bottom of the ninth tied the game, but the Dodgers lost in the 10th, 7-4.
  — June 4: With two on and one out in the bottom of the fourth, Justin Turner hit a ground ball and was retired at first. Adrian Gonzalez was initially ruled safe at third, but the call was reversed. (See video below.) The Dodgers lost the game, 2-1.
  — August 13: Juan Uribe was initially called safe at first with one out in the top of the eighth at Atlanta but then ruled out. The Dodgers did not score again and lost, 3-2.

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Here is a list of Dodger challenges (before Tuesday):