Phillies left fielder Kyle Schwarber was irate after a called third strike in the ninth inning on Sunday night against the Brewers.
With Philadelphia trailing 1–0 late, Schwarber took a called third strike on a pitch that appeared to be well off the outside corner.
He then slammed his bat down and threw his helmet, which led to home plate umpire Angel Hernandez to eject him from the ball game.
After spewing expletives in the direction of Hernandez, Schwarber said “All night …both sides!,” insinuating that the umpire had made poor calls at the plate for both the Brewers and the Phillies on Sunday night.
Hernandez is notorious for having a wide strike zone, and players and coaches alike from both teams discussed the Schwarber incident and the strike zone itself after the game.
“Everybody saw the game and everybody saw that he was at least consistent for both teams. I’m not gonna say he was good because he wasn’t, but at least he was consistent for both teams. Sometimes you just got to adjust and not leave the decision to the umpire,” Brewers catcher Omar Narvaez said.
Brewers manager Craig Counsell was in agreement.
“It was a consistently big zone,” he said. “It was just a little big in a lot of areas. I think Schwarber said it was big on both sides and there was bound to be somebody upset when it’s like that.”
Schwarber further explained his frustration after the game when speaking with reporters.
“I’m not here to bury anyone, but it wasn’t very good. You wish. … I don’t know how to really say it. It just wasn’t very good. Guys were doing a really good job tonight of not saying much. It just got to me where I was going to stick up for some other guys,” he said.
The teams are heading in two different directions.
The 1–0 loss for the Phillies was their fifth loss in the last seven games, while the Brewers’ victory marked their sixth win in the past seven games.
