Just this past weekend, MLB fans were in disbelief as longtime umpire C.B. Bucknor lost control of a game between the Rays and Guardians.
He didn’t exactly have himself a bounce-back performance on Wednesday.
Bucknor — who is among baseball’s least accurate umpires this season — was behind the plate for the Brewers’ game against the Pirates. The game saw the Pirates overcome a three-run deficit to take a 5-4 lead into the ninth. With the tying run on first and William Contreras at the plate with a full count in the ninth, it seemed like Bucknor just wanted to go home.
He called this pitch a strike:
Really? This is how it ends? CB Bucknor.
Brewers fall 5-4. It's not the only reason the Brewers lost, but frustrating it ends like this. pic.twitter.com/uK9jQGuhWM— Dominic Cotroneo (@Dom_Cotroneo) September 6, 2023
You always want to protect the plate if it’s close with a full count, but it would be awfully difficult to blame Contreras for taking that pitch. It wasn’t close at all. And yet, Bucknor called the pitch a game-ending strike despite it crossing over the left-handed batter’s box. Oddly enough, this was the second straight game where Bucknor expanded the zone for right-handed batters.
Brewers fans were justifiably upset to see the game end like that. They should’ve had the tying run on second base. Instead, it was game over.