Fair or foul, Red Sox third base coach Chad Epperson was within rules stepping onto field during live play

The dimensions of Fenway Park make it equal parts cozy and quirky. The quirks create scenarios like the one that Red Sox interim third base coach Chad Epperson was in Wednesday night in the first inning of Sox’ 8-1 win over the Orioles.

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With Wilyer Abreu on first, Willson Contreras hit a sharp ground ball down the third-base line that rolled into the left-field corner.

The issue?

Because the grandstand hugs the left-field line, it’s impossible for Epperson to see that corner from the third-base coach’s box.

Epperson’s solution?

Dart into the infield to get a clean view of the ball, and how long it was taking Orioles left fielder Taylor Ward to track it down, then quickly signal to Abreu to make the turn at third and try to score.

The only condition?

Enter the field of play without making himself a part of the play.

While Epperson scampered back into foul territory, Abreu raced home. Initially, he was called safe, but a review determined he was out at the plate.

The larger conversation after the game was the oddity of seeing Epperson step onto the field during a live play. Orioles manager Craig Albernaz said the umpiring crew explained that Epperson would be ejected if it happened again.

But Thursday, after checking the rule, Sox interim manager Chad Tracy said both he and Albernaz got a clear interpretation of what’s allowed.

“He was told that but that is incorrect and it’s since been corrected,” Tracy said. “You’re allowed to do that as long as you don’t interfere with the play in any way.”

“I kind of had an idea of that. In the middle of the game, just because we knew that was said, we checked — because we had a pretty good idea we were right — and checked the rule.”

The sight was uncommon but not unprecedented. Sox interim bench coach José David Flores told Tracy he had actually done it before — coincidentally as third base coach for the Orioles.

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More pressing for the Sox was seeing another scoring opportunity erased at the plate. The Sox have been thrown out 21 times on the bases this season, the fourth-highest total in baseball, and 11 times at the plate, which is a major league high.

Tracy said he leans toward being aggressive.

“I’m generally on the side of being aggressive knowing we’ve had some guys thrown out — there’s been some really quality throws — but we also had in the last two days, at least two or three throws come in that were offline by a ways and the ball kicks away and we score,” he said. “So there’s been a run and it happens sometimes but I also think there can be runs of being very aggressive and the throws are offline and you get an extra backside base. So we’ve got to be aware of all of it, but I think there also can be stretches where you do this and you push runs across maybe just because the throw’s offline.”

With the days growing between starts behind the plate for Carlos Narváez, Thursday’s loss stung a bit more.

Narváez came into the season as the Sox’s everyday catcher, but he’s played just five games in the past two weeks.

After catching 10 of the Sox’ first 14 games, Narváez has been behind the plate for 27 of the past 47.

Coming into Thursday, Sox pitchers had a 4.10 ERA in 296 innings with Narváez behind the plate compared with a 2.95 in seven games with Mickey Gasper and 3.51 in 22 games with Connor Wong.

So seeing Brayan Bello give up eight runs cut two ways for Narváez.

“I definitely feel bad for him,” Narváez said of Bello, who reportedly was optioned to Triple-A Worcester after the game. “I mean, of course for myself too. It’s been a lot of changes, so when I get the opportunity to be in there, I want to win the game. It wasn’t the case today, of course I’m not happy about it. But I’ve got to flush it.”

The Sox acquired lefthanded reliever Joe La Sorsa from the Pirates in exchange for cash. He will join the team for the series against the Yankees in New York. He had been on a minor-league deal with the Pirates. In 22 outings with Triple-A Indianapolis, he was 1-1 with a 3.46 ERA in 26 innings.

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