Astros fans ripped umpire Joe West after his dreadful strike call ended a 9th-inning rally
Robot umps now.
When the MLB world collectively complains about an umpire, they’re usually talking about Angel Hernandez — who is dreadfully bad. But longtime MLB umpire Joe West isn’t too far behind.
The Houston Astros certainly have reason to be upset.
The Padres and Astros played a wild game on Sunday — which included Manny Machado making a catch in deep right field — that ended on a walk-off home run by Jake Cronenworth. But in the top half of the ninth inning, the Astros had a golden opportunity to take a late lead. West just didn’t let that happen.
West already had a shaky start to the inning when he called a pair of strikes on pitches well off the plate with Yuli Gurriel hitting. Gurriel was visibly frustrated. But later in the inning, Aledmys Diaz faced an 0-2 count with runners at the corners and two outs.