C.B. Bucknor takes foul ball to mask during Brewers-Rays, MLB umpire exits game

It was a 100 mph fastball from Brewers RHP Jacob Misiorowski that Rays catcher Nick Fortes fouled back into Bucknor’s mask. Up to that point, Misiorowski had punched out four of the first five batters he faced. The Fortes at-bat ended with a base hit. Both teams are looking for the series win, Tampa Bay winning 3-2 on Monday and Milwaukee picking up a 6-2 victory on Tuesday.

C.B. Bucknor has had a rough week

For Bucknor, it’s been a rough start to the 2026 season for him. During this past Saturday’s game between the Cincinnati Reds and Boston Red Sox, Bucknor had six calls overturned by the new ABS challenge system while calling balls and strikes. Red Sox manager Alex Cora was ejected in the eighth inning of the game.

“He has one job to do, it’s call balls and strikes,” Cora said. “It wasn’t his best day. That’s what the system does. It’s out there. Everybody sees it, and he’ll be the first one to accept it. I saw him putting his head down after one of the challenges. We’re all human. It’s not easy, what we do and what he does.”

Bucknor, 63, has been an MLB umpire since 1999. He graded out as the second-worst umpire by overturn rate during the first weekend with ABS in place.

Bucknor was back in the spotlight Tuesday night when he was the first base umpire for the Brewers-Rays game. In the bottom half of the sixth inning, Brewers outfielder Jake Bauers hit a liner which popped off the glove of Rays second baseman Ben Williamson. His throw to first was wide, and Bauers appeared to have himself a base knock.

However, Bucknor never made an official call. Fortes threw the ball to first and Bauers was tagged out. Bucknor ruled that Bauers never stepped on first base. Brewers manager Pat Murphy challenged the call, and a quick review showed Bauers did, in fact, step on the bag. The call was quickly overturned.

“I don’t know what happened,” Bauers said after the game. “I’m just thankful to get on base and thankful to come around and score.”