No. Eovaldi Pitch wasn’t a strike.
Jason Castro should have struck out and the inning should have ended when Nathan Eovaldi fired a ball that caught the corner of the strike zone.
Nathan Eovaldi of the Boston Red Sox believes his 1-2 pitch to Houston Astros catcher Jason Castro should have been called a strike, ending the top of the ninth inning with the score tied at two.
Unfortunately, home plate umpire Laz Diaz ruled it a ball, and Castro went on to hit an RBI single in the ninth inning to lead the Astros to a 9-2 victory in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series on Tuesday night.
“I initially mistook it for a strike, but I’m caught up in the moment. I’m working on my pitches right now “According to ESPN’s Joon Lee, Eovaldi stated. “I’m going after the zone.”
While pitch-tracking technology suggested that the pitch was a strike and the overhead replay proved that the ball hit the plate, a curveball in that area is notoriously tough for an umpire to call.
According to ESPN Stats & Information, just 23% of the time is a curveball classified as a strike, despite the fact that it meets the traditional definition.
Before the go-ahead base hit, this was the 1-2 pitch to Castro. pic.twitter.com/3PVLW8FFnt
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) October 20, 2021
There were 23 balls-and-strikes errors in Diaz’s one-game umpiring debut in the MLB playoffs of 2021, a new single-game record for any umpire in the competition.
Despite the fact that the Red Sox and Astros each committed 12 and 11 mistakes, respectively, none were more crucial than the one that allowed Castro to continue his at-bat.
