Rays scorer Bill Mathews was all too quiet when asked about Max Fried decision

Despite cruising to a 4-0 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday, the New York Yankees and their fans were still left steaming mad. Manager Aaron Boone got ejected after Aaron Judge had what seemed to clearly be a home run instead ruled a foul ball — and somehow that wasn't even the biggest source of outrage on the afternoon.

That would come a half-inning later, when Max Fried took the mound in the bottom of the eighth with a no-hit bid still intact ... or so he thought. Before Fried even threw a pitch in the eighth, the no-hitter was foiled thanks to Rays official scorer Bill Mathews, who decided to retroactively change a sixth-inning ground ball off the bat of Tampa outfielder Chandler Simpson from an error to a hit.

Immediately, the Yankees corner of the internet was outraged, denied getting to watch Fried make a run at history by an abrupt and seemingly arbitrary ruling. In Mathews' defense, it does appear that he got the call right: Watching the play back, it seems clear that Simpson — who just might be the fastest player in the Majors right now — would have beaten both Fried and first baseman Paul Goldschmidt to the bag even if Goldschmidt had fielded the ball cleanly.

But while the ruling is eminently defensible — and Fried went on to allow another hit later in the bottom of the eighth — how Mathews got there still raised a ton of questions. MLB grants its scorers considerable leeway in making judgment calls, and rulings do get changed after the fact pretty often. Waiting two innings, however, with a no-hitter potentially on the line, was inexcusable process, one that Mathews was expected to answer for following the game.

Instead of taking accountability and explaining himself, though, Mathews did the exact opposite.

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Rays scorer Bill Mathews handled controversial Max Fried decision in the worst way

Mathews was made available to speak to reporters, a common practice whenever an official ruling is relevant to the outcome of a game. But he very quickly made clear that he had zero interest in talking to anyone about anything.

Okay then. Look, this is not an enviable position to be in. These plays happen very quickly, and Mathews deserved the right to go back, reevaluate the footage and come to a final decision. But that process typically takes place much more quickly — if Mathews had looked at a replay between the bottom of the sixth and the top of the seventh, no one would be able to take much issue.

Taking two full innings is bound to leave people feeling upset, and for good reason. And as Uncle Ben once said, with great power comes great responsibility: Part of the privilege of being an official scorer for an MLB team is having to occasionally answer questions about how you reached the decisions you did; if you don't want that kind of scrutiny, this probably isn't the job for you. For Mathews to essentially give the media the silent treatment is unacceptable behavior, regardless of whether you think Simpson should've been given a hit or an error.