Frustrations were flying high for the Athletics at the Oakland Coliseum on Thursday afternoon.
It all culminated on the game’s final pitch – an 84.7 mph slider from Seattle Mariners reliever Paul Sewald to A's first baseman Seth Brown. Brown took the two-out, two-strike pitch thinking it was ball three, but instead home plate umpire Nic Lentz called it a strike and ended the game, handing the A’s a 2-1 loss.
Brown was furious, and profanities rang through Oakland as he disgruntedly walked back to the dugout.
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SIGN UP HERE On Friday, the Twitter account Umpire Scorecards released its report for the A’s most recent loss. It confirmed what Brown was arguing. The pitch was a ball.
To Lentz’s credit, it was the only called strike that he misjudged all afternoon. It just came at a bad time and was insult to injury for Oakland, which witnessed right-hander Frankie Montas dazzle the Mariners for 8 2/3 innings of no-hit ball before Mariners infielder Adam Frazier laced a single to center field to end the bid.
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The Mariners then plated two runs in the ninth inning without notching a hit, doing so on four walks and two wild pitches.
“I didn’t get there soon enough for Seth,” manager Mark Kotsay said after the loss. “In terms of zone today, I really don’t really want to speak about it. Right now, it’s probably not a great time to ask that question for me.”
Frustrating indeed.