​NEW YORK — It was a microcosm of this American League Division Series.During the bottom of the sixth inning at Yankee Stadium in Game 3, the sellout crowd of nearly 49,000 sat eerily quiet, waiting for something, anything, to happen as their beloved team trailed the Tampa Bay Rays 4-2.Until then, in nearly three games of action, New York had scored four runs, but with two outs, the Bronx Bombers had a rare runner on base after George Lombard Jr. walked on five pitches.Anthony Volpe came up to the plate with two outs and drilled a 95 mph sinker from Rays reliever Griffin Jax that came in on the middle of the plate and went to left field, where Victor Mesa, Jr., who later provided the winning margin with his two-run home run in the top of the inning, went back to the wall trying to make the catch. Instead, fans got flashbacks to 1996. Mesa’s attempt went awry after a fan reached over the fence to catch the ball and was later escorted out of the stadium for his efforts. In that year’s American League Championship Series, 12-year-old Jeffrey Meier reached over the right-field wall to catch a ball hit by Derek Jeter, much to the dismay of Baltimore Orioles outfielder Tony Tarasco. It’s too bad that video replay would not come to MLB for another 12 years, as New York went on to a five-game series and then went on to win the World Series.There would be no such luck this time, because as soon as the ball went over the fence, the umpiring crew huddled and immediately sought help from Major League Baseball’s Replay Operations Center, located about 11 miles from Yankees Stadium.Volpe came around the bases, touched home plate, and entered the dugout, congratulated by teammates, only to be called back to second base moments later after an umpire’s review ruled spectator interference. Lombard, Jr. scored on the play, but the Yankees never got any closer than the final score.Get ALCS tickets“After viewing all relevant angles, the replay official definitively determined the spectator interfered with the ball over the field of play. The ball would not have left the playing field nor would it have been caught,” the MLB replay center later said in their explanation.Yankees manager Aaron Boone said he had no issue with the call and felt the umpires got the call right.Game 3 reeked of desperation from the moment Boone announced their lineup. Jazz Chisholm was benched, and Trent Grisham took the leadoff spot.In the eighth inning, still trailing by one run oft-injured Giancarlo Stanton was called upon to add spark, making his second appearance since April 24 after a calf injury. But he struck out swinging in his only at-bat of the night.And the bottom of the order could do nothing with Bryan Baker, who saved all three games of the series, sending the Rays back down to Tampa Bay for their upcoming third-ever appearance against either the Cleveland Guardians or Chicago White Sox in the ALCS, after striking out Grisham to end the game.The team will again se