Alas, poor CB Bucknor.
The home-plate umpire for the second game of the season between the Cincinnati Reds and Boston Red Sox had ball-strike calls challenged eight times in one game, and six were overturned — including back-to-back strike calls on the Reds’ Eugenio Suárez with the bases loaded in the sixth and back-to-back strike calls on the Reds’ Will Benson with the bases empty in the seventh.
Suárez escaped the inning-ending strikeout only to eventually ground out. Benson’s success led to a walk.
As pitcher Connor Phillips said after the opener, “it’s kind of what our game is now.”
One fan on social media asked if the six overturned calls were a record. Well, two games into the Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) challenge system, it is for a Reds game.
In fact, both unsuccessful challenges were made by the Red Sox in the first three innings, which meant they were not allowed to challenge again until extra innings (teams are limited to two unsuccessful challenges per regulation game).
The Reds were 5-for-5 on their challenges in the game (Elly De La Cruz also had a strike call overturned) – and 6-for-6 through their first two games. The Red Sox were 3-for-6 in those games.
Reds manager Terry Francona hasn’t always sounded like the biggest fan of the new system, but he seems to appreciate the team approach that has been preached since spring training — emphasizing situation and retaining a challenge for late innings.
“I give our guys credit,” Francona said. “I give (Jose) Trevino a lot of credit. I think he had a couple. I know one for sure. And he didn’t do it. Cost him an at-bat.”
Trevino struck out on called third strikes leading off the second (the more egregious according to the video) and with runners at second and third in the fifth for the third out.
“But I give him a lot of credit,” Francona said. “That to me is a guy that understands the importance: ‘It’s not for me, it’s for us.’ And he understands that as well as anybody.”
At least some of the players seem to be embracing the new system, even if it doesn’t do much for some of the umpires.
“It’s part of the game. I love it,” Reds second baseman Matt McLain said after the opener. “Know the zone.”
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati Reds win back-to-back ABS challenges twice in one game
Reporting by Gordon Wittenmyer, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
