The Texas Rangers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 3-1, in Game 3 of the World Series on Monday night to take a 2-1 series lead.
Although it was a good bounce-back win for the AL champs, all most fans were talking about after the game was the dreadful performance by the home plate umpire, who had a number of bad calls that went against both teams.
Alfonso Márquez’s strike zone was baffling for much of the night. Even Fox’s announcers couldn’t believe some of the calls, and they didn’t hold back.
This highlight reel is a rough watch for anyone who loves baseball:
Umpire Alfonso Márquez (ranked 77th of 92) missed 13 calls in World Series Game 3.
— Umpire Auditor (@UmpireAuditor) October 31, 2023
With a correct call rate of 89.9%, this was the 5th worst game of the playoffs.
Márquez also submitted a contender for worst called ball of the playoffs on a 3-2 pitch to Nathaniel Lowe. https://t.co/B40aZBBFbx pic.twitter.com/OEMC73EL3D
Look at this pitch, which was called a strike:
strike pic.twitter.com/WcijZ4nvQ2
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) October 31, 2023
Gabriel Moreno got screwed on this strike call pic.twitter.com/oa7wGqt8Vn
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) October 31, 2023
And look at this pitch, which was called a ball:
balls and strikes calls tonight through five innings 👇 pic.twitter.com/zOHGvU3MaV
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) October 31, 2023
MLB fans were not impressed:
77th of 92 and he’s the home plate ump for a World Series game. What are we doing? @MLB https://t.co/RiPNPSQtG7
— Ethan (@ethanm3_) October 31, 2023
He was absolutely atrocious. Possibly cost the Diamondbacks the game. https://t.co/tG0JDuwu7k
— An Abnormal Suns Fan (@AbnormalSunsFan) October 31, 2023
Disgraceful
— Matthew Laurance (@realLauro5) October 31, 2023
Way to go, @MLB https://t.co/zrwIBz652X
How does MLB let this happen? In games where every pitch could be the difference, why not have the best in there? https://t.co/wyIQYR7jn5
— Dan Gratz (@DGratz13) October 31, 2023
For the life of me, I do not understand why a guy who has 76 (SEVENTY SIX!) umpires who are STATISTICALLY BETTER than he gets to call a crucial #WorldSeries Game.#RoboUmp #Umpire
— Tripp Whitbeck (@trippwhitbeck) October 31, 2023
A robot would have called that a ball. With the tying run coming up to the plate with no outs and the the heart of your order batting🤷🏻♂️🤖⚾️ https://t.co/ZOns6utS6m
— Gato (@JGatoJr) October 31, 2023
Please bring in the Robot Umps https://t.co/Q0u5yX9J3a
— Lorenzo Sanders (@ZoTheTaco) October 31, 2023