The Astros picked up a dramatic walk-off victory against the Nationals on Wednesday night, but no one was more upset than Washington skipper Dave Martinez.
The Nats manager felt the team was unfairly robbed by a decision from the umpiring crew on the final play of the game.
The Astros scored the game-winning run after a throwing error from the Nationals on what would have been an inning-ending play. Martinez felt that Jake Meyers obstructed first baseman Michael Chavis by failing to run within the base path, resulting in the errant throw which allowed Jose Abreu to score.
After the game, Martinez brought some photo evidence to his press conference in order to further justify his claim and outrage.
Davey Martinez was so mad after tonight’s loss he printed out a picture of the umpires missed call pic.twitter.com/JWXoqxnwez
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) June 15, 2023
Martinez printed out a photo of Meyers running on the infield grass while sprinting to first base, suggesting that he was out of the lines and thus obstructing the play.
When he raised these concerns to the umpire live, however, he was brushed off.
“There it is, right there. Take a good look at it. Is that on the line? I don’t think so,” said Martinez. “I’m over this play. Seriously, they need to fix the rule. This is what umpire sees that he’s running down the line? Tired of it. Tired of it. Fix it. We lost the game and he had nothing to say about it, because he can’t make the right call. Brutal. Brutal.”
The Nationals had tied the game up with three runs of their own in the top of the ninth inning, before the controversial non-call from umpires sealed the win for Houston in the bottom of the ninth.
