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In my opinion, it is plate umpire Marvin Hudson's bad all the way. He waved off the run that clearly scored before the 3rd out was made on appeal. He clearly was operating under the common but oh-so-wrong misunderstanding that doubling off a runner who leaves early on a fly is a force out.
I think Montague et. al. were kind of thrown under the bus by Hudson's ignorance, and didn't realize what had happened until it was too late, but then guilt gnawed on them for 3 innings until Montague made the executive decision to correct the error.
I think the protest should be upheld. The rules afforded the offense ample opportunity to appeal for a correct decision, and they did not. Montague's heart may have been in the right place, vis-a-vis the currently popular "get it right" mantra, but his 3-inning late mea culpa is without precedent and without support in the rules or published interpretations.
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