In Tuesday night’s game between the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Guardians, controversy struck before the top of the first inning was even over. Following an overturned play at the plate that resulted in a run for the Tigers, Guardians catcher Austin Hedges is demanding an apology from the MLB.
With two outs in the top of the first inning, Detroit first baseman Harold Castro hit a ball up the middle that kicked off second base. Tigers infielder Javier Baez, who was on second base at the time, tried to take advantage of that lucky bounce by scoring. Guardians shortstop Tyler Freeman recovered in time to throw him out at home, but the Tigers challenged for catcher interference, and the play was overturned.
That put one run on the board for Detroit, and Kyle Carpenter hit a home run in the very next at-bat to give the Tigers an early 3-0 lead.
The Guardians nearly pulled off the comeback, but fell just short in a 4-3 loss, with that controversial run being the difference. While speaking to reporters at his locker after the gameHedges couldn’t hide his disdain for the league or the umpires.
“First off, that cost one run automatically, and then one ended up transitioning,” Hedges said. “Honestly, it’s a disgrace. It’s embarrassing. I think New York owes Zach Plesac specifically an apology because they took the ball out of his hands, the guy that was throwing the ball amazing. Overturning that call right there, like I said, it cost the game. I don’t need to get into the rest of the debacle with the umpires today because it was a really really poorly executed job by them.”
Hedges also said that umpires need to be held accountable for the bad calls they make throughout the game, much in the same way players are after a bad outing.
“It’s too bad when we play a sport where we get held accountable,” Hedges said. “When we say something, we get held accountable. We get mocked. We get shamed. There is no accountability on their part right now. That’s really really sad. I don’t know why. We talk about equality in this world. There ain’t no equality with that. These guys are going out there with no responsibilities.”
What made the offense even worse, Hedges said, is that the Guardians are in a battle with the Minnesota Twins and Chicago White Sox for first place in the AL Central.
“For a team that goes out there and fights every single night to win every game, for it to cost us a game when we’re trying to win a division, we’re trying to make the playoffs,” Hedges said. “We’re trying to do something special. For it to be taken out of our hands like that is a disgrace. It’s extremely disappointing. I’m disappointed, and that’s all I have to say.”
The Guardians were able to bounce back for an 8-4 win over the Tigers on Wednesday.