Forget replay, Denard Span was safe at second

San Francisco Giants outfielder Denard Span seemed to clearly steal second base in the top of the fourth inning Wednesday night, but he was called out and a challenge did not reverse it.

Base runners were at a premium in the National League Wild Card game Wednesday night, with Madison Bumgarner starting for the San Francisco Giants and Noah Syndergaard his counterpart for the New York Mets.

Giants’ center fielder Denard Span took a walk to lead off the top of the fourth inning, becoming his team’s first base runner of the game. With Syndergaard vulnerable to base stealers, Span took off for second base and was called out in the moment. Giants’ manager Bruce Bochy quickly challenged the call, and then TV replays appeared to show Span’s deft slide to avoid the tag from Mets’ shortstop Jose Reyes.

Surely similar clear angles were available to review, but the call was upheld and Span was confirmed to be out.

If you missed the play, here’s a look.

Giants’ first baseman Brandon Belt followed Span’s caught stealing by drawing a walk of his own, then catcher Buster Posey flew out and right fielder Hunter Pence struck out. So San Francisco’s potential offensive threat quickly fizzled out, but having two runners on, as opposed to one, would have altered the dynamic of the inning.

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There is an argument in the Twitter-verse, with a Mets’ fan-tinged bias to be sure, that Span’s lead foot popped off the base before his trailing leg made contact with the bag. But I don’t quite see it, and this is clearly the kind of missed call instant replay was created to correct. If the Giants lose Wednesday night’s game, Span’s steal/no-steal will be widely dissected as a pivotal early to mid inning moment that prevented the extension of an inning.