DETROIT – An umpire blew three straight calls on Monday night to rob the Detroit Tigers of a rally in their loss to the Cleveland Guardians.
The moment in question came during the top of the fifth inning. The Tigers had runners at the corners with one out, and Mark Canha was at the plate in a 1-1 game.
Canha took the first pitch low, the second pitch inside, the third pitch high, the fourth pitch outside, and the fifth pitch low. Unfortunately, the second and fifth pitches were both called strikes despite being well out of the zone.
Canha fouled off the sixth pitch and then took the seventh way high, and was called out on strikes anyway.
That’s right: six pitches out of the zone, and three were called strikes by home plate umpire Ramon De Jesus. It was about as disastrous a sequence as you’ll ever see during an MLB game.
Instead of having the bases loaded with one out, the Tigers had two outs and runners at first and third. Matt Vierling lined the next pitch 346 feet into left field for what would have been the go-ahead sacrifice fly, but it was caught for the third out.
Detroit ultimately lost the game 2-1.
Sure, the Tigers could have taken matters into their own hands with a better offensive performance. Riley Greene hit a homer on the first pitch of the game, and then the Tigers were shut out for the rest of the night.
But the last thing a struggling offense needs is that type of terrible strike zone, and it couldn’t have come at a worse time.
With a win, the Tigers would have pulled within three games of Cleveland in the AL Central. Now, they’re a full five games back after dropping their fourth straight.
It’s the type of luck the Tigers have become accustomed to at Progressive Field. And this was only Game 1.