MINNEAPOLIS — Texas Rangers manager Bruce Bochy called the seventh inning of Saturday’s 5-3 loss to the Minnesota Twins — in which home plate umpire Laz Diaz reversed a call that ended up swinging momentum in the Twins favor — a “shame.”
Rangers relief pitcher David Robertson, in his first at-bat after he replaced Jesus Tinoco with two runners on and one out in the seventh inning, ran up a full-count vs. Minnesota leadoff hitter Eduardo Julien. Julien swung at a low curveball that landed in the glove of catcher Jonah Heim. Diaz initially called it a foul-tip strike for the inning’s second out, but after checking with third base Erich Bacchus, he reversed his call and ruled it a foul tip that extended the at-bat. Such instances are not reviewable.
Robertson walked Julien two pitches after Bochy’s ejection to load the bases, then a run scored on a sacrifice fly from Carlos Correa to cut the Rangers’ lead to 3-2. Robertson gave up a three-run home run to Alex Kirilloff in the eighth inning that sank the Rangers.
“I don’t know how you make that call at third base, there’s no way he could’ve seen it enough to overturn it,” Bochy said. “He was wrong, first of all. That’s a shame, it really is.”
Bochy was issued his 83rd career ejection after he leapt from the Rangers’ dugout and argued with both Diaz and Bacchus. Bench coach Will Venable managed the rest of the way.
“That was a big out, and it cost us a run there. I was frustrated with a couple of calls too. It was mounting up, but no, that should not happen unless you’re absolutely sure that that ball hit the dirt. There’s no way he could’ve, we saw it well.”
Heim — who was on the same end of a similar play on opening day vs. the Chicago Cubs — said that such plays should be reviewable.
“Laz got the call right at first, then he asked for help and he overturned it,” Heim said. “I mean, I’m trying not to get in trouble here, but we’ve just got to be better. It’s the big leagues. Hopefully one day that’s reviewable or something, because calls like that swing a game.”
It swung this game.
“I haven’t gone back and looked at it,” Robertson said of the Julien at bat. “I just thought it was an out. There’s nothing I can do about it, it’s not a reviewable play. I asked them to check the ball, it would have a big scuff on it if it hit the ground. That’s not the way it’s done out there.”
Twitter: @McFarland_Shawn
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