Blown call ruins perfect game chance for Tigers' Galarraga

DETROIT - Armando Galarraga squeezed the ball in his mitt, stepped on first base with his right foot and was ready to celebrate the first perfect game in Detroit Tigers' history.

What happened next will be the talk of baseball for the rest of this season and likely a lot longer.

Umpire Jim Joyce emphatically called Cleveland's Jason Donald safe and a chorus of groans and boos echoed in Comerica Park.

Then Joyce emphatically said he was wrong.

"It was the biggest call of my career, and I kicked the -- out of it," Joyce said, looking and sounding distraught as he paced in the umpires' locker room. "I just cost that kid a perfect game.

"I thought he beat the throw. I was convinced he beat the throw, until I saw the replay," he said after the Tigers' 3-0 win.

It's rare for an umpire to acknowledge a mistake and, in one of the few sports that relies heavily on the human eye, it's certain to prompt a push for Major League Baseball to use increased replays.

MLB declined comment on Joyce's call.

As it stands, baseball replays can be used only for questionable home runs. There's no appealing a judgment call, either by replay or protest.

Galarraga was trying for the third perfect game in the majors this year, including Roy Halladay's gem last Saturday night.

On a play teams work on early and often in spring training, Galarraga and first baseman Miguel Cabrera did their jobs on what should've been the final out.

Donald hit a grounder in the hole between first and second, Cabrera fielded it and threw to first, where Galarraga caught the ball at least a step ahead of Donald, replays showed.

"I feel sad," Galarraga said. "I just watched the replay 20 times and there's no way you can call him safe. I wish I could talk to the guy that took a perfect game away from me.

"He needs to do a better job in that situation. It wasn't even close," he said.