The San Diego Padres weren’t happy with the umpiring crew and made sure they knew about it as they left the field.
San Diego lost 3-1 to the Chicago Cubs in Game 3 of the Wild Card Series and was eliminated from the playoffs. In the top of the ninth, home plate umpire D.J. Reyburn called Xander Bogaerts out on strikes in what should have been ball four.
The Padres then got the next batters on base, and would have had bases loaded, none out had the umpire made the correct call. Despite getting runners on first and second, the Padres‘ rally fell short and suffered a 3-1 loss.
Following the game ending, as the umpires were leaving the field, players and coaches in San Diego got into it with the umpires, which was captured by a fan.
The Padres were not happy with the controversial call and made sure the umpires knew about it as they left the field. Several players and coaches were yelling at them and getting into the umpires’ faces, and even had to be held back.
The umpires quickly ran down the dugout steps and away from the Padres bench, but players and coaches were able to get their words in.
Bogaerts Can’t Wait for ABS
Following the game, as Padres players met with the media, Bogaerts was asked about the controversial strike three call.
The veteran infielder wouldn’t go into much detail, but he did make it very clear that he was excited for the ABS challenge system coming next season.
“You can’t go back in time, and talking about it now won’t change anything,” Bogaerts said. “But it was bad. Thank God for ABS next year.”
The ABS challenge system will allow the batter, catcher, and pitcher to challenge ball and strike calls, which Bogaerts would have done there had it been available this season.
Padres Disappointed With Playoff Exit
San Diego was aggressive all season, adding players to go on a deep playoff run. But the Padres fell short and were eliminated in the Wild Card round by the Cubs.
Following the loss, Padres star center fielder Jackson Merrill said this playoff exit was the worst one yet.
“This sucks,” said Merrill. “This one hurts. I thought last year hurt. But this one hurts. Tight-knit group, a bunch of grinders. We had injuries left and right, still putting up a fight. It just didn’t go our way… We’re a family. It sucks. You’re breaking up with family. Some guys aren’t going to come back, some guys will. But we love everybody in here.”
Star third baseman Manny Machado echoed the words of Merrill as he was disappointed with the result of the series.
“It sucks,” Machado said. “For sure. It’s a position you don’t want to be in. We wanted to be holding up the trophy at the end of the year. It was our goal at the beginning of the season. We fell short.”
The Padres entered the playoffs with the +1600 odds of winning the World Series.
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