Steve Webb
ST. LOUIS, MO — Ugh. Hey, blue. Nobody comes to the ballpark to see the umpires. Forgetting for a moment that the Dodgers were beneficiaries of some questionable calls in one of the games against the Twins, the team was absolutely robbed of an opportunity to come back in a thriller against the Cardinals when home plate umpire Paul Emmel rang up Mookie Betts to short circuit what could have been an epic ninth inning comeback. Instead the Dodgers had to hit the showers knowing that the game was NOT decided on the field of play.
Until that moment, it had been a great game. The Cardinals got three small-ball runs early off Noah Syndergaard, but J.D. Martinez tied up the game with a clutch three-run blast in the in the top of the 6th. Unfortunately for the visitors, the Cards got a three-run dinger of their own in the bottom of the 8th when Nolan Gorman went big fly against Victor Gonzalez.
That set up a thrilling, but ultimately frustrating top of the 9th inning. And it started with the bottom of the Dodgers batting order, who have been showing more signs of life lately. First, Miguel Vargas led off with a double off reliever Ryan Helsley. Then, David Peralta got ahead 3-1 before banging a single into right that moved Vargas to third. Three pitches later, Jason Heyward doubled to drive in Vargas and make it a 6-4 game. This brought on a pitching change, as Giovanny Gallegos was called on to put out the fire. After he coaxed a line out from James Outman, pinch hitter Will Smith came to the plate. Smith watched what looked like ball four get called a strike in his at-bat as well, but at least managed a sac fly to bring home another run.
Now trailing by just one with the tying run on base, Mookie stepped in against Gallegos. Mookie fouled off a couple of pitches to get in a quick 0-2 hole. But down to his last strike, Betts had some good takes to work the count full. That’s when the crime against humanity occurred. Gallegos threw a fastball that was clearly outside. Nobody in the stadium thought it was a strike. Except Paul Emmel, who decided to end the game right there. Joe Davis, calling the game for Fox, had to correct himself in midsentence, basically awarding first base to Mookie with his call, “Betts takes b-called three!” Betts winced, but said nothing as he headed back to the bat rack, knowing full well that there should be two on for Freddie Freeman at that moment.
“I could just tell Mookie’s reaction,” manager Dave Roberts said. “Obviously, he’s got the best look at it, and just seeing Mookie’s reaction, and then you go back and look at how far off it was, and it doesn’t give the hitter a chance. So that’s what’s disappointing, because our guys fought their tails off tonight.”
“He called it,” Betts said. “There’s nothing I can do.”
