Ben Revere on ninth-inning strike call in Game 6: ‘It was terrible’
Blue Jays outfielder Ben Revere Revere didn’t hold back when asked about a strike call that went against him in the ninth inning of Toronto’s 4-3 loss to the Kansas City Royals in Game 6 of the ALCS on Friday night.
With two runners on and one out, a 2-1 pitch from Royals closer Wade Davis that looked high and well off the plate was called a strike by home-plate umpire Jeff Nelson to move the count to 2-2. Revere would strike out swinging on the next pitch for the second out of the inning and headed back to the dugout to take out his frustrations on a garbage can. The next hitter, Josh Donaldson, grounded out to end the game and end the Blue Jays’ season.
After the game, Revere wasn’t ready to let go of the strike-two call from his at-bat against Davis:
“It was terrible. It changed the whole game. If he puts me in a 3-1 count, now he’s got to throw me a strike. Instead it’s 2-2 and that puts me in a hole and I’m battling. It was a terrible call. I know these guys are battling, but in that situation you can’t call that. It puts me in a bad situation.”
“[The strike zone] was good until me and [Dioner Navarro] got up there. But that’s when he’s trying to expand the zone to them. The pitcher they have, the closer, he’s already tough enough as it is. That’s why I was so ticked off. I can’t say nothing to him. I can’t get ejected. I had to take it into the dugout and take it out on the trash can. It definitely was not a great call. I mean, I’ve seen pictures, pitching charts. It was absolutely terrible. It was like, six inches off the plate. If I swing, I can’t hit it. That’s why I took it.”
[Recap: Royals beat Blue Jays 4-3 in Game 6 to book return to World Series]
The anecdotal and visual evidence supports Revere complaints:
And Revere didn’t stop with the strike zone either. He wasn’t sure the right decision was made on Mike Moustakas’ home run in the second inning that may have been pulled over the wall by an overzealous fan in right field and he thought Davis was getting away with quick pitches and should have been penalized for balking.
“We had some calls go against our way. The Moustakas home run, when the fan reaches over. Usually that’s a deal ball but they gave it to them. That’s another thing that could change the outcome of the game. A couple of balks should have been called but they weren’t, and that’s part of life.”
It’s understandable. Revere was speaking from a place of deep emotion after the most crushing loss of his baseball career. He was probably just as frustrated that Toronto went 0-for-12 with runners in scoring position in an elimination game. Losing is never fun.
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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
