Fact Check: Did umpires break rules allowing Cleveland Guardians to challenge controversial catch call against Yankees?

In the first inning against the New York Yankees, Cleveland Guardians batter Josh Naylor hit a sacrifice fly to score the first run. Aaron Hicks made what appeared to be a nice sliding catch, but he bobbled the ball and it briefly hit the ground, making it an RBI single instead.

However, the umpires appeared to disregard the challenge rules and go ahead and overturn it. Typically, the only thing that can be overturned without a review is a home run or a double that is actually a home run.

The umpires would normally have to review a catch like this. They would have seen and overturned anyway, but they opted not to do the review.

While the Cleveland broadcast appears to show Guardians manager Terry Francona calling for a review almost immediately, the umpires never officially reviewed it.

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Aaron Boone ejected for arguing overturn in Guardians vs. Yankees first innins

The call they switched to was correct, but Yankees manager Aaron Boone was rightfully upset that the umps seemed to forego the rules in this spot.

A single is one thing, but keeping a challenge because the umpires just seem to agree with a call being overturned is another. Boone was ejected as a result of his frustration with the umpires, making it one of his earliest ejections.

Did the Guardians get lucky?

It's unclear why the umpires elected not to even go to to the booth. It was a simple call to change, but there's a protocol for doing so. The ruling on the field was an out, so changing it should have cost the Indians something, but it appears to have been a huge win for them early in the game.