Strange Play in Cleveland

[wish7694]

R1, F3 not covering bag. F1 throws to 1B and F3, well behind the play makes no attempt to reach bag. The ball hits R1 while U1 points to the pitcher for a balk. Seeing the balk called, R1 jogs to second base. For some reason the umpires huddle up and send R1 back to 1st.

It seems to me that the only possible explanation is that the crew decided it was not a balk, they probably felt F3 had made an attempt to cover the bag, though replays show he did not. U1 must have called a dead ball, and since they decided there was no balk they forced R1 back to 1st base. Is my understanding correct that U1 should not have called a dead ball regardless in that the throw was already on its way to first before any call of balk was made? Thus U1 screwed the pooch on this one.

Thoughts?