Wednesday was certainly an interesting afternoon at the ballpark for home plate umpire Todd Tichenor. He had both teams yelling at him for different reasons.
In the second inning of the game between the San Francisco Giants and Minnesota Twins, Giants manager Gabe Kapler shouted at Tichenor from the dugout after the umpire accidentally threw the ball back to pitcher Anthony DeSclafani when he wasn’t looking. The ball hit DeSclafani on the glove arm, and Tichenor repeatedly apologized.
The following inning, it was the Twins’ turn to get upset with Tichenor. But this time, Tichenor didn’t do anything wrong at all.
Anthony DeSclafani, Painted Front Door Two Seamer. 🖌️🎨
Kirilloff: "That's not a strike." 🔊
Spoiler alert: It's a strike. pic.twitter.com/duJ49C3AMA
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 24, 2023
Facing Alex Kirilloff with a 3-2 count, DeSclafani decided to go inside with his sinker and painted the black with a nasty 93 mph pitch. Kirilloff evidently couldn’t believe that the pitch was a strike, but it was thanks to 16 inches of horizontal break.
Yet, he turned to Tichenor and repeatedly yelled, “That’s not a strike.” Tichenor held firm in the argument and said that it was a strike. But really, it was great that mics picked up that exchange. Tichenor was right, though.
That’s a strike.