Max Scherzer doesn’t fault Jose Tabata for HBP that broke up perfect game
The pitch that cost Max Scherzer a perfect game was a 2-2 slider that ran a little too far inside.
One strike away from the 24th perfect game in MLB history, Scherzer threw a slider to Pittsburgh Pirates pinch-hitter Jose Tabata that caught Tabata on the elbow pad. With Tabata at first, Scherzer retired the next hitter – Josh Harrison – on a fly ball to left field for the final out and settled for a no-hitter in Washington’s 6-0 win.
There was one question on everyone’s mind after the game: Did Tabata lean into the pitch that separated Scherzer from perfection? There are many out there that think so, but the Nationals right-hander is taking ownership for what happened.
Scherzer also didn’t blame Tabata for not getting out of the way of the pitch.
“Just didn’t finish the pitch. Backed up on me and clipped him,” the pitcher said. “It’s just one of those things that happened. Just focus on what you can do next. Move on to the next hitter.”
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Tabata told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that he didn’t intentionally lean into the pitch and was waiting for Scherzer’s consistently nasty slider to break over the plate:
“You gotta stay with your approach. I’m waiting for the slider to break to the middle, but like I said, the slider it stayed there, it stayed in.”
By rule, a ball in the strike zone is called a strike even if it drills the batter. That doesn’t seem to be the case with Scherzer hitting Tabata but this debate is sure to continue.
Did Tabata get away with a cheap play? Or did Scherzer make a rare bad pitch and paid a heavy price for it by losing his perfect game? Let us know what you think on Twitter, Facebook or in the comments.
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Israel Fehr is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter. Follow @israelfehr
