Despite featuring 22 runs scored and 27 hits, Friday night’s game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Philadelphia Phillies will most likely be remembered for a bad strike call by home plate umpire Paul Emmel.
In the 10th inning of Friday’s game, Dodgers shortstop Trea Turner was the victim of a bad call by Emmel. As the Dodgers trailed 12-10 with two outs but runners at the corners, Emmel ruled that a 1-1 Francisco Morales slider was a strike despite it appearing to be well off the plate. Take a look.
The pitch clearly looked like a ball in real time, and replays showed that it was about two or three baseball lengths off the dish. Emmel’s bad call also greatly changed the dynamics of the at-bat. Instead of a 2-1 hitter’s count against a pitcher who had already allowed three batters to reach base in the inning, Turner now had to protect the plate down 1-2. On the next pitch, he reached for one and grounded into a fielder’s choice to end the game.
Despite the loss, the Dodgers still lead the NL West with a 20-11 record. But they have now lost three games in a row with this latest one coming courtesy of the worst strike call that we have seen since this one in last year’s playoffs.
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