Actually, now that I think of it, this might have something to do with the rule change.
Unless I'm mistaken, this sort of play was not video reviewable until the "Utley rule" came out this offseason. Jose didn't break the Utley rule, but the enforcement of the Utley rule screwed him for his breaking of another rule. I don't even think Kevin Cash thought he'd win his appeal on a hand swipe. Was probably just making a last ditch effort to get something for his side, like when managers huff and puff over every play at the plate no matter how clean.
Again I'm not sure -- this could have been reviewable before and we've just never seen it used in this way.