Rockies incensed by umpire’s blown call in epic meltdown against Dodgers: ‘You got to be kidding me’
Call it the Mile High Screwjob.
Rockies players, manager Bud Black and members of the team’s broadcasting crew were outraged after a blown check-swing call Tuesday night led to a go-ahead three-run homer by the Dodgers’ Teoscar Hernandez in an epic Colorado meltdown in their 11-9 home loss.
The Rockies seemingly had the game won when Hernandez appeared to swing on a 1-2 pitch, only for veteran umpire Lance Barksdale to rule he checked his swing.
Hernandez homered on the next offering to complete the Dodgers’ rally from a 9-4 deficit in the ninth.
“I saw a swing — check-swing, but I thought he went,” said Black, per MLB.com, who was ejected after erupting at the missed call.
The Rockies are not without blame for coughing up a five-run lead in the ninth, even holding a 99 percent chance to win with one out in the inning, per Statcast, but they appeared to get hosed Tuesday night.
The Dodgers trailed 9-8 and had two on with two outs for Hernandez when reliever Victor Vodnik threw an elevated 99.9-mph fastball that induced a check-swing, with Hernandez seeming to commit to the pitch.
Home plate umpire Will Little checked with Barksdale, the first base umpire, who ruled Hernandez held on the 1-2 offering, shocking most non-Dodgers viewers.
“He went,” Rockies announcer Drew Goodman said. “Oh, man. Lance Barksdale said no.”
Black screamed at Barksdale after the pitch, and while we’re not professional lip readers, it would appear he screamed “F–king bulls–t” at the veteran umpire.
That earned the manager an ejection.
As fate would have it, the next pitch, a 100.6-mph heater in the heart of the zone, landed in the Rockes’ bullpen in right-center to give the Dodgers a stunning lead.
Goodman could not believe the timeline of events.
“The 2-2, in the air, deep right-center and this one is gone. You got to be kidding me!” Goodman said. “From a strikeout to a three-run homer.”
Rockies right fielder Jake Cave immediately turned and pointed at Barksdale after the homer, showing frustration with the non-strikeout.
Cave reportedly had to be restrained later by a teammate.
“I was yelling at [Barksdale] from right during the inning,” Cave said, according to MLB.com. “But then we made the last out and I’m coming in. And he looks me right in the face and goes, ‘Cave, it’s not even close.’ That’s when I really got [upset].”
The Rockies put a man on in the ninth but couldn’t match the Dodgers’ heroics, suffering one of the worst losses of the season by any team.
All because of a check-swing that didn’t go their way.