ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Confusion reigned late in Wednesday’s series finale between the Red Sox and Rays at Tropicana Field.

Two delays totaling more than 20 minutes in the eighth inning ended with Boston formally protesting its 3-2 defeat against Tampa Bay. A series of substitutions made by the Rays drew a series of questions from Red Sox manager Alex Cora to the umpiring crew, which was headed by Angel Hernandez. The ensuing discussion finished with a call placed to Major League Baseball’s New York offices.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever seen them have to go to the replay guys in New York for something like that,” Red Sox starter David Price said. “I still don’t know if it’s right. I guess we’ll find out.”

Adam Kolarek replaced Charlie Morton on the mound for the Rays to begin the top of the eighth. He retired pinch hitter Sam Travis on a pop to first base. Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash came out of the first-base dugout, signaled to the bullpen for right-hander Chaz Roe to face Mookie Betts and moved Kolarek to first base.

Kolarek took the place of Ji-Man Choi, who had served as a pinch hitter for Mike Zunino in the bottom of the seventh. Choi was in the No. 9 spot of the order. Roe retired Betts on a fly to left, Cash came back to the mound and two more changes were made – Kolarek came back to pitch to Rafael Devers and Nate Lowe entered to play first base.

“When (Cash) brought in the lefty and we saw what was going to happen – when he put him at first – I asked Angel about it,” Cora said. “He gave me an answer. I was like, ‘Okay, this is about to get interesting.’ It did.”

By putting Kolarek in the field, the Rays forfeited the designated hitter. Austin Meadows was batting third and due to lead off the bottom of the eighth. There was no initial indication as to whether or not Kolarek was entering the batting order at No. 3 or No. 9, a detail that prompted Cora to hold a lengthy discussion with the umpiring crew.

“They did the pitcher moving to a position and we felt they made some illegal substitutions,” Cora said. “It was a mess at one point. I wasn’t able to keep up with Angel, so we protested the game. Let’s see where it goes.

“There’s a lot there. They brought in the lefty (Kolarek) for Charlie, and then they brought in Roe for Choi. They kept the DH at that moment. They had a pitcher at first base. They had a pitcher on the mound. And they still had the DH.

“It’s kind of hard to explain. I’m sorry I can’t go over it, because there’s a lot. It’s just an illegal substitution. We’ll see what happens.”

Through a pool reporter, Hernandez cited Rule 5.10(b) as his justification for Tampa Bay’s changes. It states, “The manager shall immediately notify the umpire-in-chief of any substitution and shall state to the umpire-in-chief the substitute’s place in the batting order.” Cash didn’t specify a place in the lineup for Kolarek, but Hernandez cited a comment accompanying the rule in question to further explain what happened.

“If this information is not immediately given to the umpire-in-chief, the umpire-in-chief shall have the authority to designate the substitutes’ place in the batting order,” the comment states in part. Based on that, the game’s final box score indicates Hernandez placed Kolarek in the No. 3 spot and Lowe in the No. 9 spot. Lowe replaced Roe and Willy Adames pinch hit for Kolarek leading off the bottom of the eighth.

“We went to the headsets to verify,” Hernandez told a pool reporter. “But it takes a long time to explain that, as you saw, and then to check with replay.”

Devers swung at the first pitch from Kolarek after the first delay, bouncing softly to Lowe at first base. Josh Taylor tossed a scoreless bottom half of the inning after the second delay, working around a one-out walk.

“Mentally I was already prepared to go into my at-bat,” Devers said through translator Bryan Almonte. “To have to wait that long, it’s not an excuse for the result of the at-bat. But it is tough to have to turn it back on after having to wait as long as I did.”

“It’s a little frustrating warming up and standing there and warming up and standing there and warming up again,” Taylor said. “They’ve got to make the right call either way.”