The Oakland A’s beat the Seattle Mariners on a walk-off home run from Coco Crisp in the bottom of the 12th on Thursday, and they have umpire Sean Barber to thank for helping to keep them in the game.
Barber completely blew what should have been a strike three call on A’s infielder Nick Punto in the fifth inning. Mariners pitcher Roenis Elias threw a curveball on a 2-2 count that was not even close to missing the strike zone, yet Barber called it a ball. Punto went on to single, steal second, and score on a Sam Fuld triple.
Punto’s run cut Seattle’s lead to 2-1 heading into the sixth. The A’s later tied the game in the eighth and Crisp played hero in extra innings. Had Barber made the right call (which was a very easy call to make) in the fifth, the Mariners would have kept a 2-0 lead at the time. That may have been the difference in winning and losing the game.
