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Umpire admits he forgot the count during bizarre Red Sox sequence
“I’ve never done that before. I’m not happy about it. Just made a mistake.”
Complaining about missed calls is quite common these days, but it appears that Red Sox fans may have a legitimate gripe about what transpired in the fifth inning of Boston’s 9-2 loss to the Astros on Tuesday night.
Houston outfielder Cam Smith swung and missed three times in a row, but the umpire did not call a strikeout. He forgot what the count was after an errant throw from Red Sox catcher Conor Wong. A runner had stolen second base, and Wong’s throw was short. It bounced away far enough that a runner came in from third and scored.
It should have been a three-pitch strikeout. Instead, Smith stayed at the plate as if the count was 1-2. He eventually reached base with a walk. The third swing and a miss, which resulted in one runner scoring and another advancing to third, resulted in errors for Wong and second baseman Macelo Mayer.
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Umpire Mark Wegner addressed the mistake in a pool report after the game.
“I just watched the video,” Wegner said, per Alex Speier of The Boston Globe. “I didn’t know what happened until I came in [to the umpire’s room after the game] and apparently I somehow didn’t count the second swinging [strike] because I said the count was 1 and 2 [after the third swing]. It was actually strike three.”
It wasn’t just that the umpire made a mistake, nobody on the field corrected him either. An at-bat that was supposed to be over after three pitches lasted six more.
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“Had anybody caught it, we can always go and call replay and check the count,” Wegner said. “I’ve never done that before. I’m not happy about it. Just made a mistake.”
Bello asked for clarification before the third swing. The umpire told him there was a ball in the count.
“I asked him [for the count],” Bello said via translator. “I asked him because I thought the first pitch was a strike and then I thought that he swung at the second pitch.
“He just gave me the count. He was clear that it was 1-1.”
Meanwhile, Smith said he also lost track of the count while he was at the plate. He was able to capitalize on the mistake. Runners advanced, the at-bat went on, and eventually he reached base because the count was off.
“Honestly, I had no idea [about the count]. I lost track because [on] that throw down to second base, I lost track,” Smith said. “I looked at the board and it said 1-1 and I was like, ‘All right, next pitch.’ I had no idea until I came back in the dugout.”
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Bello lasted 4 2/3 innings and gave up five earned runs in the loss. He finished with more walks [3] than strikeouts [2].
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