Disputed foul-ball call costs Pete Alonso a home run as the Orioles fall to the Yankees

Pete Alonso did his best Carlton Fisk impression, shuffling down the first-base line, willing his long fly ball to hug the foul pole.

Alonso’s theatrics were matched by those of third-base umpire Will Little, who demonstratively waved what would have been a go-ahead blast foul.

After a two-minute review, the call stood. Alonso struck out to end the seventh inning. He walked back to the dugout shaking his head.

The next half-inning, the Yankees took a 5-3 lead. That was the final score Wednesday night as Orioles fans filtered out of Camden Yards, still in disbelief over a call that could have changed the game.

Alonso was shocked.

“Looking at the video, the view from where the camera was pointing straight down the line, from what it looked like, I mean it was to the right of the yellow and the pole, so I thought it was fair,” he said.

The skipper was stunned.

“I was really surprised that it came back stands,” manager Craig Albernaz said.

MLB was unmoved.

“After viewing all relevant angles, the Replay Official could not definitively determine that the ball left the playing field in fair territory. The call stands, and it is a foul ball,” the MLB Replay Center said in a statement.

Alonso was quick to note that his home run wouldn’t have made the difference in a two-run loss. But there was no doubt the call had a deflating effect on the dugout.

Alonso, the highest-paid player on the team and Most Valuable Oriole front-runner, has taken command of a clubhouse plundered by trades and injuries. He delivered an impassioned plea to fans to keep the faith after a painful trade deadline. He’s fought through calf cramps to keep his streak of consecutive games played alive.

But not even Alonso, who hit a solo home run in the third inning, can seem to keep the Orioles (61-66) from perpetually sliding back into mediocrity. After winning three key games against the Rays in St. Petersburg, Baltimore has lost three straight, halting its momentum.

In June, umpires failed to rule Ernie Clement of the Blue Jays out of the basepath in a 6-4 loss. MLB later said that was the wrong call.

Wednesday night, another controversial decision played a part in another loss to a division rival. But the Orioles were left frustrated that MLB lacks the technology to resolve calls like this one.

“I think a simple fix is, like football, you have the pylon camera with the plane, where it shoots right across the goal line,” Alonso said. “And I feel like, for us, we could easily have a laser or a camera that shoots straight up. For me, I’m not the only one. It happens all the time to a bunch of guys throughout the course of the year. It happens a lot during the season. Obviously, this is a big game in division, so obviously this one’s going to be a little bit more amplified.

“But this happens quite a few times throughout the season, more than you would think. I think having a camera or laser shooting straight up, we have all the technology, analytics and whatever and funds. I don’t see why we can’t do it. The reason why I’ve been told we can’t do it is because every ballpark is different and that every ballpark is unique, it’s not the same dimensions everywhere. So that’s my understanding of it.”

“It’s just crazy that we still have this issue,” said pitcher Chris Bassitt, a member of the MLB Players Association subcommittee. “I think we might be the only major sport with an issue like this. It’s been years that we have technology that [we] can easily use to say this is exactly the right thing or wrong thing, and the fact that we don’t have it in 2026 is crazy.”

Why hasn’t MLB added the tech everyone has been clamoring for?

“Because it would cost money,” Bassitt said bluntly. “That’s it. I mean, that’s literally it. You ask every fan of this game, that’s a true fan, every single fan would want those cameras. If you ask every single player, they would want those cameras. If you ask every coach, they want the cameras. It costs money. That’s it. That’s literally it.”

Baltimore’s frustrations were compounded by the fact that it received another solid start from Bassitt while knocking Yankees starter Will Warren out after just four innings.

Neither starter was particularly sharp early.

The Orioles scratched a run across in the first inning without the benefit of a hit. Warren walked leadoff hitter Jackson Holliday, then Gunnar Henderson two batters later. With two outs, the pair executed a double steal, with Henderson swiping second and Holliday scoring from third.

Baltimore’s 1-0 lead was short-lived. Bassitt, making his second start since returning from the injured list, surrendered two runs in the next frame.

Then Ben Rice smacked his 34th long ball of the season, a majestic 431-foot blast that landed on the PureWager Pavilion underneath the scoreboard in center to make it 3-1 Yankees.

Alonso, who served as the designated hitter for the fourth straight game, returned fire in the bottom half of the inning. His full-count homer to the seats in right field was punctuated by a high-arcing bat flip.

It was Alonso’s 14th opposite-field homer, the most in baseball.

The managers in both dugouts were faced with the same conundrum: when to pull their struggling starters. Yankees skipper Aaron Boone opted for the quick hook.

Albernaz stuck with his veteran. Bassitt rewarded the decision by finishing with 2 2/3 scoreless frames.

The Yankees bullpen was almost perfect, with the only blemish coming on a Dylan Beavers opposite-field solo shot in the sixth inning. That tied the game at 3.

Baltimore’s bullpen faltered in the eighth, when Cam Sanders loaded the bases with two outs. New York took a 4-3 lead on an infield single by George Lombard Jr., then a wild pitch from Yennier Canó made it 5-3.

This story has been updated.

Carlton Fisk’s name was misspelled in an earlier version of this story.