Washington Nationals manager Dave Martinez was ejected from Friday night’s 8-7 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 2 of a doubleheader after arguing a bad call.
The Phillies were batting with the game tied 6-6 in the top of the 10th. They had runners on second and third with one out. J.T. Realmuto hit a soft liner up the middle. Nats shortstop Luis Garcia was going after the ball but made contact with baserunner Rhys Hoskins and fell down.
Hoskins was sent home on the play but thrown out. However, the umpires charged Garcia with obstruction and credited Hoskins with a run scored.
Martinez was unhappy and came out to argue. He was subsequently ejected.
Instead of being down 7-6 with a runner on first and two outs, the Nats were down 8-6 with a runner on first and one out. The Nats scored a run in the bottom of the 10th, so the extra run credited by the umpires was the difference.
After the game, crew chief Dan Iassogna spoke with a pool reporter to explain the call. Iassogna said that the umpires determined Garcia was no longer in the process of trying to field the ball and should have gotten out of Hoskins’ way. Iassogna also said the umpires made a judgment call in determining Hoskins would have scored had obstruction not occurred.
That is some terrible reasoning by the umpires. They’re wrong on both accounts.
Garcia was in the act of trying to field the ball, so obstruction shouldn’t have been called. And even without the obstruction, Hoskins still would have been dead meat at the plate. Martinez was justifiably upset.
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