The Philadelphia Phillies got an apology from an umpire on Thursday over a game-changing call in Game 4 of the National League Division Series, at least according to pitcher Cristopher Sanchez.
Sanchez appeared to deliver a perfect pitch to Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Alex Call during the seventh inning of Thursday’s game at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, Ca. Had the pitch been called a strike, Call would have been out, and Sanchez would have had two out with no one on base while nursing a 1-0 lead.
Instead, home plate umpire Mark Wegner called the pitch a ball. Call ended up drawing a walk, and eventually came around to score the tying run when Jhoan Duran issued a bases-loaded walk to Mookie Betts later in the inning.
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After the game, Sanchez claimed Wegner apologized to him for missing the call.
“He knows he missed it because he told me and he apologized to me,” Sanchez said, via Bob Cooney of NBC Sports Philadelphia. “But a lot of pressure, important game, important situation, you can’t miss those things. You can’t miss those calls. I get it with the added pressure and all, but the pitch was a strike. So that’s going to stick in the back of his mind, there.”
Obviously, the remainder of the inning got away from Sanchez and Duran, so one call was not the sole difference in the outcome. Still, it is easy to see how the Phillies think they would have won had Call been punched out. It certainly might have saved Orion Kerkering from his brutal fate later on.
The Phillies are not the only team to suffer the consequences of a bad missed call by a home plate umpire during the postseason. They are probably looking forward to the introduction of the ball-strike challenge system, which is coming in 2026, because an apology is not going to revive their season.
