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To a man the players in the Blue Jays' clubhouse were confused and angry about the decision to punish  Jose Bautista for his slide at second base in the ninth inning of Tuesday's 3-2 loss to Tampa Bay. Toronto thought they had taken a 4-3 lead when Rays second baseman Logan Forsythe's throw to first base to complete a game-ending double play was off target and allowed two runs to score. The Blue Jays celebrated, but their enthusiasm was cut short by Tampa Bay's challenge of the play at second asking the umpires to take a closer look at Bautista's slide. [ Sign up for Fantasy Baseball  |  Play for $40K  |  Expert rankings  |  Mock draft ]  After review, Bautista was ruled to have violated Rule 6.01(j), which will be forever known as the Chase Utley rule  after Utley broke Ruben Tejada's leg on a slide in last year's playoffs. Even though Encarnacion would have been safe at first because of the errant throw, he is automatically ruled out when the new slide rule is applied, making him the third out of the ninth. The runs come off the board. Game over. Blue Jays lose. Everyone on the internet turns into an expert of baseball's rulebook. It appears we could all use a refresher on what's no longer allowed when sliding into second base. Here are the basic tenets of the rule, as laid out by Jeff Passan when it was introduced during the offseason:  •  Slide prior to reaching the base.  •  Slide so you are able to and attempt to reach or touch the base. •  Slide so you are able to and attempt to stay on the base. •  Do not change your pathway to the base. OK, got it. Crew chief Mike Everitt relayed that the call was reversed by the replay officials because Bautista "hindered and impeded the fielder," and “did not engage in a bona fide slide as he did not attempt to remain on the base."   By definition of the rule, which is an old rule actually separate from the new Utley rule, Bautista was certainly guilty of the former as he made contact with Forsythe's legs with his hands. However, the Blue Jays argue that in their view of the spirit of the rule that should be a judgement call for the umpires, maintaining that some ability to break up a potential double play should remain as part of the game and that they had been instructed to keep their hands down when sliding.  Bautista was also judged to not have followed bullet No. 3 from Passan's breakdown, to which he responded: “I was already out, why is there a need for me to stay on the bag? Common sense has to come into this at some point.” [Related: Tampa Bay wins when Jose Bautista violates new slide rule ] What's clear is that the introduction of the rule and how its interpreted by the players still has a ways to go before everyone is on board and understands what is and isn't legal. Blue Jays catcher Russell Martin compared the transition to when MLB changed the rules on blocking the plate in 2014, which he says took some time  via Sportsnet's Shi Davidi :  "The same thing happened to me with the catcher’s rule. I was in Pittsburgh, there was a force play at the plate, they called me for blocking the plate on a force play. A week later they changed the rule, and got it right."  The last part of Martin's comments are what's most encouraging. Eventually they got it right and as Kyle Ringo pointed out on The Stew last night , maybe having it directly affect the result of a game will speed up that process. More MLB coverage from Yahoo Sports: - - - - - - - Israel Fehr is a writer for Big League Stew  on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at israelfehr@yahoo.ca or follow him on Twitter. Follow @israelfehr Continue to Article

April 06, 2016 10:15:am EST

The third day of the regular season produced a fascinating ending involving the new slide rule at second base , which had the Tampa Bay Rays celebrating a 3-2 win Tuesday night and the Toronto Blue Jays in disbelief. With the bases loaded and one out in the top of the ninth inning, Jays slugger Edwin Encarnacion hit the ball to third baseman Evan Longoria, who threw to second to get Jose Bautista. Logan Forsythe threw to first, but it was off target and wasn’t in time to get Encarnacion. Ryan Goins scored the tying run and Josh Donaldson followed with the go-ahead run on what would have been a throwing error. [ Sign up for Fantasy Baseball | Play for $40K | Expert rankings | Mock draft ] The Blue Jays celebrated in the dugout, but the Rays challenged the play at second saying Bautista violated the new slide rule by interfering with Forsythe. The new rule, if you're not up to speed, says players can't change their pathway to the base or slide past second base, among other things . The replay proved them right. Bautista slid correctly directly into the base, but he reached out and grabbed Forsythe’s foot and umpires called Encarnacion out ending the game. Toronto manager John Gibbons argued the call as the Rays celebrated the win. The Blue Jays could hardly believe what was happening. They were clearly struggling to wrap their minds around the fact that something they’ve seen happen throughout their lives in baseball was now against the rules and costing them a win. Gibbons was still angry about the ruling when he met with reporters after the game, including Gregor Chisholm from MLB.com , who shared these comments from Gibbons. "Are we trying to turn the game into a joke? I mean, really. That was flat out embarrassing. That cost us an opportunity to win a Major League game. Was that the intent? Well, that's probably the results you're going to get. I was talking to some guys in Spring Training, said wait until it happens when it ends a game, a Major League game. It truly is an embarrassment. "Baseball is a hard-nosed game. He gets down in plenty of time, he's going to the bag. There's really no explanation for it. Wins matter in this business and for that to come out like that, I don't get it. "Crap, all that matters is we had a chance to win, we take the lead. We're in the ninth inning, we take the lead. We battled to get into that position and you're going to end a game like that. Really, it's a joke. It's a shame. I get the intent, you go after somebody, you hurt somebody, I get that. But that's good baseball, that has been baseball forever. Maybe they just want them to run and get out of the way. I don't know." [ Report: MLB approves wearable tech to measure stress, heart rate ] Gibbons also added this line, which riled up a number of female fans: Gibbons tells reporters: "Maybe we'll come out and wear dresses tomorrow. Maybe that's what everybody's looking for." — Arash Madani (@ArashMadani) April 6, 2016 It’s not really a surprise to see some struggling to get used to the new rule, which was put in place in the offseason after several ugly season-ending injuries occurred to infielders on takeout slides at second base late last season. Having a game be decided by the new rule might actually help players adjust more quickly in the long run. Players already should have known it was going to be called and now they know not adjusting the way they play can cost them wins. More MLB coverage from Yahoo Sports: The StewPod: A baseball podcast by Yahoo Sports Subscribe via iTunes or via RSS feed - - - - - - - Kyle Ringo is a contributing writer to Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at kyle.ringo@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KyleRingo Continue to Article

April 05, 2016 11:30:pm EST