Home plate umpire Vic Carapazza had a bizarre night Friday when the New York Yankees took on the Detroit Tigers.
In the sixth inning, Carapazza seemingly lost track of the count when Yankees infielder Gio Urshela took a 2-2 pitch off the plate. Urshela, who had fouled off several previous pitches, dropped his bat and went down to first on what was only ball three, but nobody seemed to notice or object.
Frankly, the blame for this falls on the Tigers as much as anyone. Someone in the dugout should have noticed and said something, but no one did. Ultimately, the Yankees failed to score in the inning, so the miss didn’t really cost the Tigers.
Carapazza created another talking point in the 10th inning after the Yankees had gone ahead 2-1. With a runner at third and a 2-2 count, Tigers outfielder Robbie Grossman took a borderline pitch from Yankees pitcher Justin Wilson. Had it been called a strike, it would have ended the game. Instead, Grossman stayed alive and hit a walk-off home run on the next pitch, leaving the Yankees fuming.
Talk about a bizarre night for Carapazza. The Yankees certainly won’t be feeling good about how this one ended, and understandably so.
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