With Angel Hernandez done as an MLB umpire, baseball generally doesn’t have an active umpire with that kind of notoriety to pile on. But don’t get me wrong — there are still bad umpires working behind the plate in MLB games, and Brian O’Nora is among the worst of them.
The Royals experienced that in a big way on Wednesday night.
With Kansas City up a run with one on and one out in the ninth inning, Royals closer James McArthur should have gotten himself a 3-2 strikeout of Geraldo Perdomo. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. was running on the pitch, and Salvador Perez’s throw to second was on the money. This should have been a strike ’em out, throw ’em out double play to end the game.
There was just one problem: O’Nora called the pitch a ball.
Umpire Brian O'Nora called ball 4 on what should've been a strike 'em out throw 'em out to end the game.
Instead, the Diamondbacks went on to score 5 runs and win by 2.
O'Nora is ranked 86th of 88 umpires this season.#Royals #Diamondbacks pic.twitter.com/AKAoBpJyPq
— Umpire Auditor (@UmpireAuditor) July 25, 2024
So, instead of a Royals win, the Diamondbacks then had two runners on with one out. And they certainly took advantage of the new life. Gabriel Moreno hit the go-ahead double, and Ketel Marte blew the game open with a three-run home run. That would-be, 4-3 win for the Royals turned into an 8-6 D-backs win just like that.
In all, O’Nora had a below-average game behind the plate with a 93 percent accuracy. He ranks in the bottom 10 among all MLB umpires, according to Ump Scorecards.
Umpire: Brian O'Nora
Final: D-backs 8, Royals 6#Dbacks // #WelcomeToTheCity#AZvsKC // #KCvsAZMore stats for this game 👇https://t.co/S6cuPdCwdP pic.twitter.com/YPvIfoegBE
— Umpire Scorecards (@UmpScorecards) July 25, 2024
Royals fans were justifiably upset about the missed call. With robot umps, that would have been a win for Kansas City.
This was how Twitter/X reacted
Yeah, it sucks and cost the #Royals a win. Nothing can be done about it though. Robo umps can't get here quick enough. https://t.co/FRgUzCHI6u
— Shannon Johnson 🇺🇦 🏳️⚧️ #NHLtoKC (@Ubernerd232) July 25, 2024
Ah the MLBUA blowing games https://t.co/UHnn51H35R
— Mike – Elon ruined the bird app (@MikeP0330) July 25, 2024
Wow. I actually feel bad for the Royals here. https://t.co/sY7jHuhHMn
— Sean Fitzgerald (@fitzonsportsbsr) July 25, 2024
Brian o'Nora and the rest of his crew were dog shit in SF/Col series. Ball 4, would have been an easy strike him out threw him out to end the game. 5 runs later D-backs up 8-4. Yes McArthur needs to be better, but these guys need to be held accountable. Publicly. pic.twitter.com/vSLfnkLPbz
— Bob Romitti (@RobertRomitti) July 25, 2024
This O’Nora character owes me $1,050 https://t.co/ikY5cNnuyJ pic.twitter.com/ybH6Wvn6Xk
— Smoke the Books (@SmokeTheBooks) July 25, 2024
