During Thursday night’s National League Divisional Series matchup between the San Diego Padres and the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego starting pitcher Yu Darvish got absolutely hosed by a terrible call from home plate umpire Chris Segal.
In the bottom of the second inning during Thursday night’s contest, Darvish was facing Dodgers third baseman, Max Muncy. Darvish threw two quick strikes to hop out to a quick lead in the count. Then, with an 0-2 count, he threw a 69-mile-per-hour breaking ball that appeared to be right down the middle of the plate in the strike zone.
Unfortunately for Darvish, Segal didn’t quite see it that way. The MLB umpire called a ball on the pitch, keeping Muncy alive and extending the at-bat.
The ump got fooled by Darvish on this 69 mph breaking ball pic.twitter.com/rSkqjtM54L
— Talking Friars (@TalkingFriars) October 13, 2022
According to ESPN’s pitch tracker, Darvish’s pitch was right in the strike zone.
Chris Segal not off to good start. Bad call on Grisham strike 1 and this miss was much worse. pic.twitter.com/ZAFTTUv8ak
— Jay Posner (@sdutPosner) October 13, 2022
Following the blown call that extended the at-bat, Muncy watch a ball and then hit two foul balls to bring the count to 2-2. Then, on the 2-2 pitch, Muncy drilled a ball to deep right field for a home run to put the Dodgers up 2-1.
The umpire’s bad call turned what should have been a three-pitch strikeout into a home run. And the Major League Baseball world had plenty to say about it.
Padres are getting rigged right now. These are game changing calls. pic.twitter.com/wVTcJcoASR
— Fehoko Show (@breidenfehoko4) October 13, 2022
Ampayer 🤦🏻🤦🏻🤦🏻 https://t.co/YS4aCKgREF
— Enrique Gutiérrez (@henrygutierrezp) October 13, 2022
What SHOULD HAVE been a strikeout.. turned into a Homerun.. cannot afford this poor calling in the Playoffs https://t.co/bjz7XuFSGd
— Alex.Garcia (@lexoid23) October 13, 2022
Muncy goes on to hit a HR
“Sometimes an umpire gets fooled” isn’t a good enough excuse for me in the playoffs.
2nd time in 2 innings a Home Run was hit in an at bat that should’ve been over. https://t.co/slp6sFdlqh
— Joseph Pagel Jr (@JoePagel) October 13, 2022
How is that not a strike? Sure the pitch looks wild but crosser the plate and landed well within the strike zone https://t.co/UbImM9Mq4B
— BOLT⚡HYPE (@BOLTHYPE) October 13, 2022
Fortunately for the Padres, the blown call didn’t cost them the game as they ultimately came back to win the game by a score of 5-3.