Yankees Player Botches Perfect Double Play as Interference Is Called — Now See the Odds

An early botched play early in Sunday’s New York Yankees game gives us an opporunity to peek in on the current Polymarket odds.

In the first inning in the game vs. the Cincinnatti Reds, the current top American League team seemed to have pulled off an excellent double play, only for no outs to be called.

The Reds’ Blake Dunn was on first base with JJ Bleday up to bat. Bleday hit a line drive directly up the middle and right at Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe. The infielder snagged to ball, stepped on second base as a precaution and then lobbed the ball to first to get out Dunn, who had no time to retreat back to first base in time.

The YES Network broadcasters called the lucky moment as a double play, with Yankee great Paul O’Neill going into a spiel about “the breaks of the game.” However, the home plate umpire quickly called catcher’s interference on the play.

What would've been a double play turns into catcher's interference pic.twitter.com/qp4MNb4d1M

— Fireside Yankees (@FiresideYankees) June 21, 2026

Yankee catcher Austin Wells — who is fresh off the IL — stuck his glove too far in front of him and Bleday’s bat collided with it. Per MLB rules, the play is dead when that contact is made and the batter takes first base.

“What a change of events here,” O’Neill quickly said once he realized Wells ruined the double-play. Michael Kay described the moment as “a big blow to the Yankees” that putting rookie starting pitcher Elmer Rodríguez in a “tough spot.”

How the Catcher’s Inference Call Affected Polymarket

A big botch like this would seemingly scare some bettors on Polymarket. The odds were already fairly even before the game started, due to Rodríguez’s unexpected insertion into the Bronx Bombers’ rotation.

However, the Polymarket odds stayed steady. Perhaps bettors (rightfully) believed in Rodríguez could get out of the jam, which he did.

It took scoring plays for the Polymarket odds to drastically shift. A solo home run from New York’s first-baseman Ben Rice boosted the team’s odds of winning as high as 70%. However, Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson hit a 3-run dinger in fourth inning, putting the the Ohio-based team ahead. As of press time, Polymarket gives the Reds a 68% chance of winning the game, which is currently in the fifth inning.

Even if the Yankees don’t come out on top Sunday, Polymarket still believes they’ll win the AL East and take down all the other American League teams in the playoffs. (The Dodgers are still the favorites to win the World Series, though.)

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