Umpire Report Suggests Missed Calls Played Huge Factor in San Francisco Giants Loss
The San Francisco Giants lost a tough game against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday where they were in control for virtually the entire contest until they coughed it up in the ninth inning.
For a team who continues to fight an uphill battle to get themselves into a playoff position, these are the types of games they can't afford to drop.
However, it seems like them blowing the game on Tuesday wasn't only their fault.
According to Umpire Scorecards that was released on social media platform X, there were 12 missed calls that resulted in the Pirates benefitting to the tune of 1.2 runs.
One of the most impactful missed calls came in the bottom of the ninth inning where things went off the rails for San Francisco.
With their star closer Camilo Doval on the mound looking to keep their winning streak alive, umpire Dan Bellino called the second pitch of the at-bat against Bryan Reynolds a ball when it was clearly in the strike zone.
At this point in the game, the Giants still led 6-4 with one out and the bases loaded.
If called correctly, the count would have been 0-2, giving Doval a major advantage.
Instead, Reynolds was able to drive in a run to cut the lead to one after grounding into a fielder's choice.
Again, the poor calls that were negatively skewed against the Giants weren't the sole reason why they lost. They held a four-run lead in the bottom of the ninth inning, something that should have been closed out.
But, this does point to how important of a role the umpires play in these tight games, and San Francisco was on the wrong side of things that haulted their momentum after it looked like they had started to figure things out.
With Blake Snell returning from the injured list and starting on Wednesday, they're hoping he can showcase his two-time Cy Young-winning form and earn them a victory that gets them back on track.