The Los Angeles Dodgers were in position to come away with a series win over the Chicago Cubs, but defensive miscues and a lack of timely hitting ultimately doomed them in a 3-2 loss at Dodger Stadium.
After pulling to within one run in the seventh inning, the Dodgers offense was shut down by the Cubs bullpen. Michael Fulmer tossed a perfect eighth inning before Brad Boxberger went on to record his first save of the season.
The right-hander worked around a two-out infield single from Mookie Betts and struck out three batters, which included David Peralta, Jason Heyward and Freddie Freeman.
However, called strikes against all three appeared to be incorrect by home-plate umpire Sean Barber.
“So to be fair and honest, you never know heat of the moment,” Heyward said if he was surprised Barber’s strike zone. “You’re just up there competing and you give them the benefit of the doubt.
“I’ve given them the benefit of the doubt for 14 years, never been tossed. So first one on 3-1 felt in, but I’m like alright, get ready to protect. Then 3-2 felt further. So haven’t seen a call like that since, back-to-back, haven’t seen a call like that since Low-A. So it is what it is.
“As an umpire, as someone whose out there competing, doing their job as a profession, who’s probably going to say to himself the same thing we all are, we’re doing the best we can and can’t get them all right. But we all saw what we saw there. In these moments in the game, to the point you brought up, you don’t see it often.”
Heyward did not start in Sunday’s rubber match and struck out in his only at-bat off the bench. “The only thing that’s frustrating is I’ve seen what happens in a game when a team is hanging in there, fighting, and you pass it to the next guy,” Heyward answered when asked if he was frustrated by the outcome.
“And I felt like we went up there with that mindset, not trying to do too much. Make good decisions about swinging, as far as the pitches you’re going to swing at. Hung in there, and it is what it is. He called what he saw. But yeah, it’s interesting, interesting for me. As someone who’s been around this long, interesting.”
Freeman, who went 1-for-5 with four strikeouts, also felt Barber’s strike zone was inconsistent. “It’s hard to tell from inside of the dugout,” Freeman began.
“But obviously, Jason thought his was a ball. My wife just told me mine was too. So it is what it is. I had a pitch to hit on 0-1 and didn’t hit it.”
Dave Roberts defends Dodgers
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts additionally believes Barber should have given his veteran players a chance to swing the bat.
“Well, I think regardless of the service time, I think that the David ball was close. But I do think that those two pitches on Jason were missed,” Roberts said.
“And we’re not expecting those guys to be perfect, I don’t think anyone is. But the facts are he missed them. Did it change the game? We’ll never know.
“But as a ballplayer, when you take a good at-bat and you feel like calls against you are out of zone, it’s frustrating, yeah. And Jason has every right to be frustrated.”
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