HOUSTON — As a hitter and first baseman, Ryan Zimmerman gets to see the controversy that interrupted Tuesday night’s Game 6 of the World Series from each side of the aisle.

Zimmerman avoided revealing his opinion about the rule that resulted in Nationals teammate Trea Turner being called out for interference while running to first during a crucial juncture of what turned into a 7-2 Washington victory.

However, Zimmerman did have a good take on what it is like for right-handed hitters like Turner getting out of the batters’ box.

“Because the base is in fair play it makes it interesting, especially for right-handed hitters. I play first base and I can tell you, most right-handed hitters run exactly like Trea did [Tuesday night],’’ Zimmerman said late Wednesday afternoon ahead of Game 7 at Minute Maid Park. “I’m not going to sit up here and interpret the rule and say whether they were right or wrong because I don’t do that kind of stuff.’’

Zimmerman admitted he didn’t have an answer or the time to debate the issue, but did offer an interesting thought.

“I don’t know if we’re going to have to do something with the base, if you’re going to have to put the base in foul ground, if you’re having to put another base out there,’’ Zimmerman said. “I’m not going to sit up here and say one person was wrong or right. But there’s definitely some, I guess, maybe gray area in how the rule is written.’’

The controversy surfaced in the seventh inning, when plate umpire Sam Holbrook called Turner out for interfering with pitcher Brad Peacock’s throw to first that got by Yuli Gurriel despite Turner running in a straight line to the bag. The Nationals thought they had runners on second and third and no outs, but after more than nine minutes of discussions on the field and then via headphones with MLB’s command center in Manhattan, the ruling stood.

“It shouldn’t have been that long,” Joe Torre, MLB’s chief baseball officer, said of the delay. “I don’t know if it was the noise or whatever it was. That’s unfortunate. And certainly we have to take ownership of that.”

Nationals manager Dave Martinez, livid when the call was made, continued his tirade at the end of the inning, when he had to be restrained twice by coaches Tim Bogar and Chip Hale. Martinez was eventually ejected.

Taking the sting out of the call was Anthony Rendon hitting a two-run homer off Will Harris two batters later that upped the Nationals’ lead to 5-2.

Because it was a judgement call it is not reviewable, nor can a club file a protest over it.

Considering Martinez had a heart procedure done during the regular season, he was asked if the tirade led to a call from his doctor.

“I had one come down [Tuesday] to the training room and ask me if I was OK,” Martinez said. “I just asked him, ‘Do I look OK?’ Yeah. So, yeah, they were all worried.”

While Martinez was unloading on crew chief Gary Cederstrom and Holbrook, who ejected him, he heard a Nationals fan who was worried about his heart.

“Funny, I had some fan screaming at me above the dugout when all this was going on, ‘Davey, your heart. Remember your heart,’ ’’ he said.
As for changing the rule, Martinez admitted judgement calls are hard to make.

“You know what, for me, it’s — that rule is — I don’t know how long that rule has been in place, probably a hundred years, I don’t know,’’ Martinez said. “A rule is a rule. These judgment calls are difficult. The umpires do the best they can on getting it right. I know that. I understand that.’’

Astros manager A.J. Hinch didn’t see anything blatantly wrong with Turner’s path to first base.

“That one I wish common sense prevails. Because I actually side with Turner on this one, that I didn’t think that he was getting in the way of anything. It was an errant throw,’’ Hinch said. “The process of trying to get it right I think we can always sharpen.’’