The New York Yankees’ Sunday game against the Boston Red Sox may have looked one-sided, at least judging by the 16-1 scoreline. However, it did not start that way, as both teams entered the fifth inning scoreless. But then, a catch in the outfield by Ceddanne Rafaela was ruled a non-catch, and the Red Sox began to pull away.

Barstool Sports’ Dave Portnoy, however, considered the game a protested play and called out the Yankees fans talking against him.

“I love all these moron Yankees fans chirping at me. They are too stupid to even understand the rules of an MLB protest. This game will go back in time to the situation when the protested play happened. Everything after it is null and void. So it’s 0-0 when we resume play,” Portnoy shared via X.

It all started when Rafaela’s catch was canceled, and the Red Sox coughed up 16 runs in the next four innings. In the fifth inning, Rafaela dove at a fly ball off Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s bat, but upon landing, there was no clear evidence of whether the ball touched the turf or not. First-base umpire Edwin Moscoso even called it a trap.

Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy challenged the call, but the decision remained unchanged. Despite the replay being shown several times, it was inconclusive whether the ball was caught cleanly or had touched the ground. After the challenge was unsuccessful, Chisholm reached first base, while second base was also occupied.

The Yankees went on to add five runs in the same inning, followed by a 9-run ninth inning. That’s what irked Portnoy. According to him, “The Red Sox game is officially under protest.”

However, until 2019, a manager could formally notify umpires that they were continuing a contest “under protest” if they believed an umpire had misapplied the official rules. That rule was banned in 2021. Upon amendment, Rule 7.04 now reads:

“Protesting a game shall never be permitted, regardless of whether such complaint is based on judgment decisions by the umpire or an allegation that an umpire misapplied these rules or otherwise rendered a decision in violation of these rules.”

Meanwhile, the Yankees fans wasted no time reminding Portnoy that there is no such thing as a protested play. However, according to Portnoy, the game should have resumed from a 0-0 score following the review, rather than carrying over the runs the Yankees scored over the next four innings.

Rafaela also seemed dissatisfied with how things unfolded.

“I didn’t even have to watch it, I know I made the catch,” the 28-year-old admitted to the media after the game, via NESN. “I know when a ball drops and a ball doesn’t drop; I know I made the catch. They couldn’t overturn it, out of our control, but I was really mad at the moment. I really wanted to help my pitcher there, and I feel that changed the whole game.”

“I think it’s tough to lose any of them, but obviously, everybody’s aware of that piece of it,” Tracy added, echoing the same sentiment.

Hence, the Red Sox seem far from accepting the result, which led to Portnoy having a few heated exchanges with the Bleacher Creatures.