That low rumbling in the distance just might be the robo-umpires preparing their uprising.
After a controversial outing in Blue Jays vs. Yankees on Tuesday, umpires made themselves the center of attention twice again Wednesday in Dodgers vs. Pirates and Red Sox vs. Braves.
Jansen Visconti vs. Wil Crowe
The first instance came during a day game in Pittsburgh. With the Dodgers' Trea Turner at the plate, Pirates pitcher Wil Crowe delivered a 1-0 slider in at the belt. It was treated by all parties as a routine strike, but when it became apparent that Visconti's right arm wasn't going up, Crowe paused.
The scorebug immediately updated to 1-1, then had to sheepishly retreat to a 2-0 hitter's count in a tie game in the seventh inning with one out and a runner on third.
Crowe took a long look in and did a double-take, while Visconti looked into the Pirates dugout and confidently nodded his head. Bench coach Don Kelly even gave his neck a little crick as if to say, "OK, fine."
For those curious, this isn't a displaced strike zone. This is where the pitch crossed.
Crowe's look-in is reminiscent of the famous Madison Bumgarner vs. Joe West staredown in 2015.
To his credit, Crowe eventually battled out of the inning. The Pirates went on to win 5-3, and Crowe was credited with his first win of the season.
Adam Beck vs. Kevin Plawecki and Alex Cora
This next tale has a less happy ending for the aggrieved.
In a 3-3 game in the top of the sixth inning, Red Sox catcher Kevin Plawecki stood at the plate against Braves reliever Collin McHugh with a full count, the bases loaded and two outs. It's a situation every kid and aspiring umpire puts themselves in the backyard. What kid doesn't dream of making that big punchout? But umpire Beck was a bit quick on the draw.
That was an 89 mph cutter a few inches below the knees of Plawecki for a called third strike. It got McHugh out of a bases-loaded jam instead of giving Plawecki the go-ahead RBI. Plawecki was ejected by Beck after tossing his helmet, but Cora wasn't going to let Plawecki walk off the field alone. Cora repeatedly told Beck the pitch was "down" and, after he was ejected, hit Beck with the always-devastating "You're better than that."
MORE: Why Jays pitcher, pitching coach, manager were ejected in one-inning span
Beck's quick hooks were dripping with an undertone of knowing he was wrong but being in too deep to do anything about it. Here's where that pitch ended up.
Plawecki was hitting eighth with Jackie Bradley Jr. on deck, so who knows how things would have played out in the inning if that pitch was called a ball. But we know how they played out when it was called a strike.
WALK-OFF WIN!!!!#ForTheA pic.twitter.com/qlqt3vGMtk
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) May 12, 2022
The Braves ended up winning 5-3 on a walk-off home run by Orlando Arcia, dealing another brutal blow to a Red Sox team that has struggled all year.
