ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Any sports fan will agree that when two quality teams play, the last thing they want is for the game to be decided by the officiating.
Perhaps the Pirates' eventual 4-1 loss to the Rays at Tropicana Field Tuesday would have happened anyway, but a non-call most likely cost the visitors a run at a critical point which could have swung the momentum.
Trailing 3-1 in the top of the sixth and two runners in scoring position, Tampa Bay reliever Ryan Thompson delivered a quick pitch to Austin Hedges to try beat the expiring pitch clock. Hedges and the Pirates' bench immediately argued that it was a balk and a run should come home, but to no avail:
"It was just a balk," Hedges said afterward. "It was just a clear balk."
"It doesn’t impact my at-bat," he responded to my follow-up question. "There just should have been a run that scored and have the runner on second go to third base with less than two outs. It’s a huge situation in a 3-1 ballgame at that point. Too bad it wasn’t called."
Shelton had a few choice words for home plate umpire Adrian Johnson, who had an inconsistent strike zone the entire game, but left without being tossed.
"The umpires told me they missed it," Shelton said.
Hedges would strike out later in the at-bat, and Ke'Bryan Hayes would do the same to follow to kill the rally. Harold Ramírez would homer in the home half of the inning, twisting the knife a little more and putting the Rays in a good position to secure the win in the series opener.
The Pirates simply didn't do enough to win Tuesday, but losing a run is often demoralizing. Especially since there were times this spring where Rich Hill was penalized for trying to quick pitch, with umpires determining he had not followed the new pitch clock rules for getting set. That can come with drastic new rules and umpiring crews not being on the same page.
"The same thing has happened to me," Hayes was telling me. "Umpires, it's like they pick days the want to see stuff and some days they don't. In spring, we had a guy who called two plays on us... saying they weren't on the dirt.
"It happens. Sometimes it's in your favor. Sometimes it's not. But yeah, I definitely think it was a balk."
