Wednesday night's game between the Chicago Cubs and New York Mets was a tight one, but the defining moment didn't come until the very end.
The Cubs' lone run of the night came via a sacrifice fly in the top of the fifth. The Mets, on the other hand, had been held scoreless through 8.0 innings, thanks in large part to rookie Shota Imanaga's gem for Chicago.
Imanaga was off the mound by the time the bottom of the ninth came around, though, and New York made sure to take advantage. A double from designated hitter JD Martinez got first baseman Pete Alonso all the way to third with one down, setting the stage for a wild finish.
When second baseman Jeff McNeil flied out to left, Alonso made a break for it, trying to force extra innings by tagging up and scoring. Third baseman Nick Madrigal cut off the throw from left fielder Ian Happ, then relayed it to catcher Miguel Amaya.
The throw was in time, and Alonso was called out, securing the win for the Cubs.
The Mets weren't giving up yet, though, pleading to home plate umpire Charlie Ramos to review the play. Alonso may have been tagged in time, but New York was trying to make the case that Amaya had blocked the plate.
After video review, both calls on the field were upheld – there was no blocking, and Alonso was out.
Mets manager Carlos Mendoza didn't agree with the decision, pointing to the fact that Amaya was standing on home plate before Madrigal's throw arrived. Mendoza's argument with crew chief Chad Fairchild got picked up on a hot mic, giving fans insight into how the game came to a close.
"What happened with the position of the catcher, though?" Mendoza demanded after running out onto the field.
"The call was confirmed, there was no blocking," Fairchild responded.
"That's not legal, though," Mendoza said.
"I will happily talk to you...I'm not in the replay, I'm telling you what they told me," Fairchild said.
"The rule says you cannot stand on home plate without the baseball," Mendoza insisted.
"I'm not arguing with you, Carlos, but I'm saying I don't see that," Fairchild said.
Mendoza's complaints started to get explicit, and once Fairchild told him to take it up with the league offices, the microphone was cut off.
Mendoza further explained his case during his postgame press conference, citing a memo that went out to teams during Spring Training regarding catcher positioning.
One of the slides in said memo explicitly said that a catcher having their foot on home plate was an illegal setup.
Regardless, the Cubs were awarded the win, improving to 19-12 on the season. The Mets dropped back down to 15-15 and now need to win Thursday's series finale to salvage a split.
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