Padres beside themselves after controversial strikeout name
The Padres may be stewing about this one all offseason.
With their season hanging within the steadiness in a winner-take-all wild-card Sport 3 in opposition to the Cubs on Thursday, Xander Bogaerts got here up within the ninth inning after Jackson Merrill’s leadoff homer and acquired the rely full.
He took what seemed to be a pitch nicely beneath the zone from Chicago reliever Brad Keller, which might have meant a stroll.
Besides dwelling plate umpire D.J. Reyburn felt in any other case, calling the pitch a strike — that means Bogaerts was not solely not on first base, however he was the primary out of the ultimate body.
Bogaerts appeared again at Reyburn after which squatted down in pure disbelief earlier than Padres supervisor Mike Shildt got here out of the primary base dugout for a phrase, however to no avail.
Making issues sting extra for San Diego is that the following two batters reached base on plunkings.
However they didn’t get any runs in after a groundout and a flyout ended their season.
If Rayburn’s name occurred in 2026, the Padres would have doubtless been in a position to problem the decision with MLB’s incoming automated ball-strike system (ABS) that will enable a pitcher, catcher or batter to flag a house plate umpire’s resolution and put it to a fast video evaluate.
With no ABS, although, the Padres had been out of luck, and the Cubs are advancing within the playoffs for the primary time since 2017.
The Cubs will face the NL Central rival Brewers within the best-of-five NLDS on Saturday.
