The Houston Astros defeated the Boston Red Sox 5-4 on Friday night.
Unfortunately, their win did not come without controversy.
Home plate umpire David Rackley had a particularly awful showing on the day, with one especially egregious sequence exemplifying what Boston had to deal with all night.
The incident in question occurred at the top of the 5th inning, with the Red Sox up 3-1.
J.D. Martinez took the first pitch for a ball, but then things turned. Next came a slider and two fastballs – each of which was called a strike. Every single one of those pitches missed the outside corner.
That third strike, in particular, was completely insane.
Yikes HP ump David Rackley .. Martinez down on strikes#RedSox 3 #Astros 1 T5 pic.twitter.com/kcf30H0Y4A
— Sports 24/7 (@B_R_R_D) October 16, 2021
Bad calls happen, obviously, but for some reason Rackley only called them against Boston. Meanwhile, Chris Sale couldn’t buy a strike in the first inning despite catching the corner of the strike zone.
When Terry Bradshaw saw what Erin Andrews was wearing, he couldn’t help himself. https://t.co/Yg0qPqcErK
— Game 7 (@game7__) October 15, 2021
Consistency matters. And in a close game, like the one that occurred on Friday night, shoddy umpiring can be the difference.
Bad refereeing has become a theme in sports this year. At the professional level and at the collegiate level, it is robbing squads of victories left and right. Hopefully someone steps in and does something about it, because at this point it’s getting a little embarrassing.
Related: Mike Tomlin Gets Brutally Honest About Jon Gruden’s Woes (Video)
