Phillies benefit from horrible check swing call in win over Pirates

Bryce Harper Says It's World Series or Bust for Young Players - Yahoo Sports

The Philadelphia Phillies’ late-inning rally on Friday night got a little bit of help from the umpiring crew.

Philadelphia pulled off a come-from-behind win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Pa. The turning point came in the seventh inning when the Phillies were trailing 3-1.

They had two runners on and one out with star slugger Bryce Harper at the plate. On a 3-2 pitch outside from Pittsburgh’s Ryan Borucki, Harper checked his swing and appeared to go around. But upon the appeal to John Libka, the third-base umpire, Libka ruled that Harper had somehow held up.

As a result, Harper drew the walk, loading the bases. From there, the Pirates scored four times in the inning (on two more walks, a hit-by-pitch, and a sacrifice fly) and went on to win 8-4.

Pirates interim manager Don Kelly was irate about the check swing call and let his gripes be known. As a result, Libka ejected him from the game almost immediately.

Here is the video (in which you can see that Harper’s bat clearly appeared to cross home plate as even the television broadcasters said that they believed Harper had swung).

Pirates manager Don Kelly didn’t like this check swing call and got ejected pic.twitter.com/TRQOi5Xmrf

https://twitter.com/JomboyMedia/status/1923574909021638977?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1923574909021638977%7Ctwgr%5Eac953e4c766c45c2c5635ac9770d53c8750f0787%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Flarrybrownsports.com%2Fbaseball%2Fphillies-check-swing-call-pirates%2F698043

MLB rules remain unclear on what exactly constitutes a swing, often leaving it up to the subjective judgment of the umpiring crew. Perhaps Friday’s hard-to-believe call was simply karmic justice for Harper, who was once ejected (by Angel Hernandez of all people) for arguing an awful check swing call that went against him during a game against the Pirates in 2023.

Related Posts

Red Sox are lucky one terrifying Alex Bregman trade is off the table

The Boston Red Sox are unlikely to trade third baseman Alex Bregman at the MLB trade deadline, though that hasn’t stopped pundits from suggesting such a move. B

Three Houston Astros Selected to Represent American League in All-Star Game

The Houston Astros lead the American League West Division and will send three players to the All-Star Game on July 15 in Atlanta.

SF Gіаntѕ expected to get аnother key bаt bаck ѕoon аfter ѕtаrtіng rehаb аѕѕіgnment wіth Sаcrаmento

The SF Giants could be getting another key bat back into the lineup. Casey Schmitt began a rehab assignment with the Sacramento River Cats on Saturday, collecti

Cubѕ ‘Accelerаtіng’ Plаnѕ to Fіnd New Stаrtіng Pіtcher After Lаteѕt Injury

The Chіcаgo Cubѕ аlreаdy knew аddіng аt leаѕt one ѕtаrtіng pіtcher wаѕ а neceѕѕіty іn the next few weekѕ. Now, thаt proceѕѕ іѕ beіng аmplіfіed. MLB іnѕіder…

Cаrdіnаlѕ fаnѕ mаy need to eаt crow аfter gіvіng up on thіѕ young bаt too ѕoon

Nolan Gorman is back? We think?

Rаngerѕ need а roаd woeѕ turnаround іf they wаnt to get bаck іn plаyoff rаce

When discussing just what is wrong with the Texas Rangers this year, there are plenty of answers at hand. The offense was so bad that the team fired its hitting