With a 6-3 lead in the eighth inning, the Marlins and Richard Bleier were set to close out a nice win on the road against the Mets (-1.5) on Tuesday night. Evidently, no one told Bleier or the Marlins that they would run into some extremely mystifying balk issues.
You see, when New York’s Pete Alonso tried to ignite a late rally, first base umpire John Tumpane called Bleier for a balk. Okay, sure. It happens. Then he called him for another balk. Uh, alright? But if Bleier broke the rule, he broke the rule, I guess. Then Tumpane called the pitcher for another balk. In one at-bat.
