MILWAUKEE — The American Family Field crowd broke into a collective roar as Sal Frelick sprinted from third base. But when home-plate umpire Ryan Additon waved his arms in the air, confusion — and frustration for the Brewers — followed.
For the second straight game, a call in a key spot did not go Milwaukee’s way. This time around, in Monday night’s 1-0 loss to the Rays at American Family Field, it was a strikeout in which backswing interference was ruled on Brewers first baseman Jake Bauers, halting the tying run from scoring and the winning run from advancing to third base.
And Brewers manager Pat Murphy disagreed with the call.
“Of course, you’re frustrated,” said Murphy, who was ejected for the first time as Brewers manager for arguing the call in the ninth. “There’s a lot to be frustrated about. But you can’t let yourself do it for too long. It happened. We put ourselves in that position. But when that does happen — there’s a lot of one-run games — when that does happen, you want them to get it right.
“And I believe 100 percent they got it wrong, according to what I just read in the rule book.”
After being held scoreless for eight innings, following a dominant six innings by Rays starter Ryan Pepiot, the Brewers were rallying in the ninth against Jason Adam, trailing 1-0. Sal Frelick hit a leadoff double, Willy Adames drew a one-out walk and both advanced 90 feet on a double steal.
Bauers swung and missed at a 1-2 slider down and in from Adam, but the ball got past catcher René Pinto. The ball trickled through Pinto’s legs, and Bauers’ backswing then struck the Rays’ catcher on the helmet.
Frelick sprinted home and slid in, seemingly safe. Adames advanced to third, and Bauers ran to unoccupied first base with the dropped third strike. But Additon had made the backswing interference call.
Crew chief Chris Guccione cited Rules 6.03(a)(3) and (4) in the rulebook in a pool report. Although the ball got by Pinto, backswing interference was called because Bauers hit Pinto’s helmet.
“At that point, once the play is over, the ball is then dead,” Guccione said. “Because in that case, the catcher still has an opportunity to make a play on the ball if the guy was stealing or if he had been there and gotten the guy out at the plate.
“So we leave the ball in play until everything is done. And then at that point, you have to enforce the backswing interference. So in this case, it was a third strike to Bauers and all runners go back to the original base at the time of the pitch. That’s the rule.”
Guccione said if Bauers had one strike on him, he wouldn’t have been out in that spot. It would’ve just been strike two, but the runners still would have had to go back to their original bases.
“I saw him call dead ball right away,” Adam said. “I didn’t know what he called. … I didn’t know if he was saying, like, interference against us … but it was on the backswing.”
After Additon ruled Bauers out and signaled for Frelick to return to third, Murphy went onto the field for an explanation and then argued the call, leading to his ejection. He contended postgame that his disagreement stemmed from the fact that the ball was already past Pinto when Bauers’ backswing struck him.
Backswing is backswing,” Guccione said. “I know Murphy’s argument was the catcher had to go [forward] and try to get the ball. It doesn’t really apply in this case. Backswing is backswing, and that’s what we have to enforce. We watched the video, it was clearly backswing interference. I could hear it from first base. That rule that they’re citing is something that does not apply in this situation.”
After Bauers was called out, Adam hit Rhys Hoskins with a pitch to load the bases. Blake Perkins then struck out swinging to end the game.
With Monday’s call coming on the heels of the controversial non-interference ruling on Aaron Judge in Sunday’s loss to the Yankees, and the Brewers losing despite six innings of one-run ball from Bryse Wilson, it could be easy to feel increasing frustration.
Bauers, who said he had not rewatched the play in the immediate aftermath postgame, was more disappointed in himself than the umpires.
“I mean, if I don’t swing at a slider that bounced in the grass, we’re not in that situation,” Bauers said. “So that’s the way I look at it. Gotta figure out a way to be better.”
