Red Sox’s explanation for center field light during Astros’ Game 5 win

Game 5 of the Astros-Red Sox American League Championship Series had a slight delay Wednesday when umpires noticed a light against the outfield wall with the Astros leading big in the sixth inning.

Because the Red Sox have been busted illegally stealing signs before and Red Sox manager Alex Cora was part of the 2017 Astros’ sign-stealing scheme, people immediately jumped to conclusions that something nefarious was going on.

Although FS1 cameras showed what appeared to be a flashlight moving around behind the outfield wall, that’s not what the umpires and managers were talking about at all. Astros manager Dusty Baker said it actually was a piece of reflective tape on the outfield wall and Cora is the one who pointed it out to him.

“I know that Alex Cora had said something about the light out in center, and then he came over to me and said it really wasn’t a light,” Baker said after the Astros’ 9-1 win. “It wasn’t in anybody’s eyes or point of vision or distraction. It was some reflective tape that somebody had put out there. It looked like a light shining off the lights, but I didn’t really see it. I didn’t have the angle to see it.”