MLB umpires have been scrutinized for years now, especially those behind the plate calling balls and strikes.
However, baseball fans were in an uproar after an egregious call on Monday night in the game between the Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays.
During the AL East matchup, Orioles starter Zach Eflin delivered a pitch that broke left to right and ended up right in the heart of the plate. Blue Jays batter Ernie Clement stepped away from the dish in what appeared to be his acceptance of the first-pitch strike.
However, home plate umpire Brian Walsh just stood there, indicating it was a ball in his eyes.
Eflin and catcher Adley Rutschman both froze at the same time, staring at Walsh in disbelief that he didn’t call the pitch a strike.
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“Wait a minute,” one of the Orioles announcers was heard saying over the broadcast.
“My goodness,” his partner chimed in. “… You couldn’t set it on the tee in the heart of the plate any better. Look at this pitch right here. How do you miss that?”
Luckily for the Orioles, the call wasn’t a big one in the game, and they ended up crushing the Blue Jays, 11-4, at their home, Camden Yards.
Walsh, though, was under fire recently after a strike-three call in the bottom of the ninth to end the game between the Arizona Diamondbacks and Houston Astros.
The D-Backs were down one run to the Astros when All-Star Ketel Marte awaited a 3-2 pitch from Josh Hader with two outs and a runner on first.
Hader’s backdoor slider was outside the strike zone, but Walsh called it for strike three despite the pitch never being in the zone.
While Marte walked away without saying anything to Walsh, the Diamondbacks’ broadcast team wasn’t happy.
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