Angels manager Ron Washington rips ‘bad' strike call to end game as Yankees escape with win

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29-05-2025

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Calls for robot umps will get louder after this one.
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The Yankees got a little bit of help defeating the Angels on Wednesday night, 1-0, as Mark Leiter Jr. closed it out, with home plate umpire Ben May giving a rather generous called strike three to end the game with the tying run on base.
'It was bad. I didn't know it was that far off the plate until I just saw it,' Angels manager Ron Washington said after his team landed on the wrong end of a sweep.
He added: 'It is difficult to accept, but from our vantage point, the pitch looked like it had height. I just seen it inside and (the catcher) snatched it back.'
The pitch missed the zone. @burnacity2025/X
The 2-2 slider from Leiter went about six inches off the outside corner to right-handed hitter Logan O'Hoppe while the Angels had a man on first.
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O'Hoppe immediately protested the call as the Yankees came together to celebrate their fifth straight victory on this three-city road trip.
Pitch 5, the called third strike, was just a bit outside. MLB.com
Yankees catcher J.C. Escarra said the pitch was 'definitely a ball.'
FanDuel announcer Mark Gubicza could not believe May called the pitch a strike.
'That was a horrible call. Horrible call,' Gubicza said on the broadcast.
O'Hoppe was not pleased with the call. @burnacity2025/X
CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND YANKEES STATS
May is typically a very accurate home plate umpire, ranking No. 15 of 88 qualified MLB umpires in terms of correctly called strike percentages with a 94.91 percent accuracy rate, according to Ump Scorecards.
Wednesday's 1-0 win saw the Yankees score in the first inning on an Anthony Volpe sacrifice fly.
Ron Washington did not like the call. Getty Images
The series sweep drops the Angels to 25-30, while the Yankees are a robust 35-20.
The Yankees are off Thursday before Friday's heavyweight battle as they stay on the West Coast to play the Dodgers in a World Series rematch.