The Philadelphia Phillies faithful have every right to be mad at umpire Alex MacKay for this call that cost the team a run.
On Sunday, the Phillies were down 2-0 to the Minnesota Twins, but had the bases loaded with two outs in the bottom of the seventh. Alec Bohm was facing a 3-2 count, with a walk set to score a run and cut the deficit in half.
Instead, however, Bohm was rung up looking on a called strike that was well inside. Bohm couldn’t believe the call as he spiked his bat in frustration after MacKay rung him up and the home Phillies crowd was instantly irate.
Here’s how the play went down.
Alec Bohm was just ejected after this strike-three call with the bases loaded 😳 pic.twitter.com/FPmKhfDbsB
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) August 13, 2023
That’s … not a strike.
An inning later, Phillies manager Rob Thomson was ejected after Bryce Harper was called out on strikes on a pitch that missed the outside corner.
And now Harper gets called out on strikes and somehow does not get ejected but Rob Thompson does pic.twitter.com/g3XoCFvAQd
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) August 13, 2023
Phillies fans noted that MacKay was a call-up umpire for this game and were not happy with his performance in a crucial rubber match. Here’s how Phillies fans reacted on Twitter after Bohm struck out looking with the bases loaded on a terrible call.
Umpires should *absolutely* be required to talk to the media after games. Open their locker room the same way the clubhouse is open.
Make them answer for this. Publicly. Just like players and coaches. https://t.co/9xJmRMSUjS
— Andy (@Behind_The_Ivy) August 13, 2023
Rhys Hoskins would be proud of this bat spike https://t.co/B4mspIrwgv
— Brandon Wile (@Brandon_N_Wile) August 13, 2023
Sick joke. https://t.co/tyeTnCvg3E
— Dominic Gugliotta (@DomGoogs) August 13, 2023
Twins fan here. Bad call by the umpire. https://t.co/Y7RQziZoVK
— 🏇 Yoshida (@RacingYoshi) August 13, 2023
Robot umps can’t come fast enough absolutely a joke https://t.co/q29UMHRpPs
— Justin McLaughlin (@justinmcl1414) August 13, 2023
baseball needs a strike-ball challenge system, come on man. https://t.co/NYpbWMwsjY
— jahiye 🤩⚜️ (@jahiye1) August 13, 2023
Too big of a spot for the umpire to be a dunce https://t.co/1rsTfu6sEB
— Mario Salinas (@salinasmario2) August 13, 2023
Never seen an ump hit that punch out signal so hard on a clear ball before 😭 https://t.co/S2nj7L3AeN
— Byron 🈂️ (@jewellbyron_) August 13, 2023
— sweet king ❤🤍 (@dlorenee) August 13, 2023