In what was a wacky game on Friday night between the Mets and the Washington Nationals, perhaps the strangest play happened in the fourth inning. Something that hasn’t happened to New York in 15 years.
With runners on first and second and nobody out after back-to-back singles by Brandon Nimmo and Mark Vientos, the Mets were on the verge of a potential big inning against Jake Irvin, who had a 2-0 lead and was pitching well up until that point.
Instead, Jesse Winker lined a ball to first base that was caught by Nathaniel Lowe. At least, that’s what was called on the field by first base umpire Alfonso Marquez. With both baserunners trying to advance, the Nationals threw to second and first base for the force outs, which resulted in a triple play.
Threat over.
However, on instant replay, it was clear that the ball hit the dirt before going into Lowe’s glove which should’ve negated the triple play. Unfortunately for New York, that play is not reviewable and could not be challenged by manager Carlos Mendoza.
“It’s frustrating, obviously, because we all saw what happened,” the skipper said after the game. “And I’m not blaming Alfonso because he’s the one behind the play, but I think the other three [umpires], somebody’s got to see that play. Tough break for us there.”,
After the call on the field, Mendoza went out to argue that the umpires should at least get together to talk about what they saw. His request was to no avail as all four umpires apparently saw the same thing as Marquez.
“They said that if somebody saw it, somebody would have just called to Alfonso, and that was my frustration there. We all saw it in the dugout,” Mendoza said.
While having a wrong call go against you is undeniably frustrating, especially in this day and age of replay review, what had Mendoza and the Mets most annoyed was how crucial the call was at that point in the game.
Already down 2-0 and unable to get anything going against Irvin, New York’s golden opportunity to do some damage against the right-hander was stripped away in the blink of an eye.
“That’s just frustrating – a play like that with so much impact, not only in that inning but in the game, it’s first and second, nobody out and before you know it, you’re out of the inning and there’s nothing you can do about it,” Mendoza said. “I was asking for them to get together and it was just a pretty frustrating play.”
Following the game, Nimmo and Vientos were asked about what they saw on the play.
While Vientos called it a baserunning mistake on his part for not freezing and going back to first base on the sharp liner, Nimmo said he made a split-second decision while acknowledging that it’s a tough play.
“I thought I saw a little skip [of the ball] before the glove and so I decided to go [to third base],” Nimmo said. “But you’re also kind of in no-man’s land when it’s hit hard at [someone] like that and it’s a close play on the ground…
“Just unfortunate timing there and one of those plays where unfortunately on the base paths you’re kind of in no-man’s land and you just gotta make a decision and see what the umpires end up saying.”
Perhaps most frustrating of all is the fact that that specific play can not be reviewed. If MLB has the capability to review close plays, why not extend that power to all plays to ensure every call is correct?
It’s an answer Mendoza, Nimmo and the rest of the Mets are still searching for.
“I do think it switched momentum big time,” Nimmo added.
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