Brutal strike call likely cost Diamondbacks best chance at World Series rally
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It will be the potential ball four that’s going to be talked about for a while.
The controversial strike called by home plate umpire Alfonso Marquez during Diamondbacks catcher Gabriel Moreno’s at-bat likely changed the course of the ninth inning in what ended up being a 3-1 win for the Rangers in Game 3 of the World Series at Chase Field on Monday night.
Texas now leads the best-of-seven series 2-1.
Moreno was ahead in the count 3-1 leading off the bottom of the frame when Rangers pitcher José Leclerc threw a pitch that looked way outside of the strike zone.
However, Marquez didn’t see it that way and called strike two, to the surprise of just about everyone.
Replay of the pitch clearly showed it missed the plate.
Moreno had started to walk to first base, thinking it was the ball four, and had to turn around.
He grounded out to third base on the next pitch instead of standing on first as the tying run with no outs.
Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo tried to be cautious when discussing the call after the game.
“I mean I’m not happy about it,” Lovullo said. “I know that if they were off the plate and there were missed calls, they gotta tighten it up. I’d say that everybody, but I will say this. The umps are doing their absolute best. Balls moving at high velocities. It’s getting manipulated at home plate, but there were some calls that didn’t go our way today.
“Was that the difference in the game? I don’t know, I don’t think so. If there were missed calls, they took advantage of it and won the baseball game the way they needed to.”
Christian Walker and ex-Met Tommy Pham both struck out swinging for the game’s final two outs.
Unsurprisingly, Diamondbacks fans were not happy following the game and took to social media to voice their displeasure.
“On what planet is this a strike!?” one person wrote on X.
Another wrote in a post: “I’ve lost all respect sorry this is absolutely rigged for the Rangers… Or ratings in sure which. I won’t be silent . Just saw it live sry.”
“Gabriel Moreno got robbed of a walk! The most atrocious strike in MLB World Series History,” a third fan wrote.
Game 4 of the series will take place Tuesday.
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