Home plate umpire Emil Jimenez became the villain among Seattle Mariners fans on Saturday in a game against the Tampa Bay Rays.
All-Star slugger Julio Rodriguez was at the plate with the bases empty and two outs in the bottom of the 6th inning at T-Mobile Park in Seattle, Wash. With Rodriguez behind in the count 0-2, Rays pitcher Steven Matz threw a sinker that appeared to nick the top-left corner of the strike zone.
Rodriguez tapped his helmet to challenge the call just a split second after Jimenez finished his strikeout motion. However, Jimenez did not grant the challenge, prompting Mariners manager Dan Wilson to pop out of the dugout.
Wilson ended up getting ejected from the contest after a heated argument with Jimenez.
Home plate umpire Emil Jimenez didn't allow an instant challenge from Julio Rodriguez which led to the ejection of Mariners manager Dan Wilson
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) August 9, 2026
The next inning Jimenez didn't see an instant challenge from Rays' Jonathan Aranda but the third base umpire Doug Eddings confirmed it… pic.twitter.com/d1JbwOrriP
The challenge being disallowed actually benefited Seattle, given that Matz’s pitch did appear to graze the strike zone. But the Mariners obviously wanted to at least get the chance to see for themselves.
Jimenez tried to pull the same thing on the Rays during the following inning, when Jonathan Aranda was denied an ABS challenge of his own despite instantly requesting it. Third base umpire Doug Eddings felt the need to step in and grant the challenge, which proved the called strike was actually a ball.
While Jimenez clearly failed to grant a pair of timely challenges, at least he was consistent about it. Mariners players were still heckling Jimenez throughout the ordeal, though.
Seattle eventually lost the contest 3-2.
