On October 19, 2011, Layne was the plate umpire when Adrián Beltré nicked a ball off of his foot to St. Louis Cardinals third basemen David Freese in Game 1 of the 2011 World Series, which, by rule, is a dead ball. Layne ruled that Beltre was not touched by the ball and play continued, despite Beltre hopping around home plate as if in pain. Infrared replays showed that the ball appeared to have narrowly clipped Beltre's foot and that the ball should have been called foul or dead by virtue of batter's interference. Layne inspected the ball after Rangers manager Ron Washington argued the call; however Layne did not see any scuff from Beltre's shoe and upheld his original call.