PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jurickson Plofer lost his cool just before the San Diego Padres lost the game.
With no outs in the 9th inning when the Padres trailed by two in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series, Plofer pitched Phillies relief pitcher Seranthony Dominguez to 3-2. I thought I checked my swing at .
However, when Ploffer threw his bat into the San Diego dugout and headed first, he was ruled to have been swung by third base umpire Todd Tichenor.
Plofer was sent off by plate umpire Ted Barrett after slamming his helmet, shouting curses at Tichenor, and kicking his helmet.
Instead of a walk that put runners on first and second with no outs, it was an important one out for Dominguez. -of-7 matchup.
“It must have been a walk,” Ploffer said.
Plofer said he was trying to get out of the way of Dominguez’s back-foot slider and held back his swing.
“I didn’t get a chance to see[the replay]much, but I certainly didn’t go,” he said. “Maybe the bat was in front, but I was out of the way and didn’t go. I didn’t swing.”
Padres manager Bob Melvin did not dispute the umpire’s decision, but he did not necessarily agree.
“I blocked out a little bit,” Melvin said of his view. It’s a haircut and it’s tough, but it may not be.”
“Obviously, it’s a big moment,” he said.
As for his reaction, Profar doesn’t regret it.
“We play the game, we play with emotion,” he said. “We don’t play soft. We play to win. We play with emotion.”
will he do it again?
“No, probably not,” he said. “But in that moment I did it. But I learn from it.”
Asked if a suspension from Major League Baseball was imminent, he said, “No way. MLB will not issue suspensions for that.”
Last year, the decisive Game 5 of the highly anticipated NL Division Series showdown between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants ended with a hotly disputed check swing.
Giants’ Wilmer Flores, with two outs and a runner on first in the bottom of the ninth, was ruled to have swung on Max Scherzer’s pitch. Some angry fans at Oracle Park threw garbage on the outfield grass.
After the game, first base umpire Gabe Morales made the call on appeal from the umpire, but seemed unsure if he was right.
The check swing has long been discussed as part of baseball.
Does the batter have to “break his wrist” in an attempt to hold on for the pitch to be a strike? Is it the intention of the batter?
No need to check the official rules of baseball: The nearly 200 pages governing Major League Baseball make no mention of how it’s called.
This is purely an umpire’s decision and judgment calls are not subject to review under MLB’s replay rules.
Soto struggle
Padres star slugger Juan Soto went 1-3 to raise his postseason average to .231 this year, but hasn’t hit a home run in 13 straight games into the regular season.
Even in this series, Soto is struggling in right field. In Wednesday’s Game 2, which San Diego won 8-5, he committed his throwing error and lost the ball in the sun.
On Friday, he hit the double wall after failing to hold off Bryson Stott’s two hits. The Padres got out of that frame without giving up a run, but when Soto failed to catch Alec Bohm’s sinking liner on a diving attempt, resulting in an RBI double that gave Philadelphia a two-run run. The cushions weren’t so lucky.
Acquired by San Diego from Washington on August 2, Soto, 23, has five homers and 14 RBIs in 17 games in the 2019 postseason, helping the Nationals win the World Series.
Soto has two doubles and four RBIs in the postseason, and last hit deep on Oct. 1 against the White Sox.
Soto has seen his power decline since the Padres traded six valuable prospects to acquire him. 390 with 6 homers and 16 RBIs.
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