San Francisco Giants broadcasters Mike Krukow and Duane Kuiper were left disappointed after a call on second base stood after umpire review. During the fourth inning of Thursday's game against the Atlanta Braves, the umpires called Michael Harris II safe at second base on a double play opportunity for the Giants upon Austin Riley's groundout.
Giants Casey Schmitt jumped high to catch the ball from Tyler Fitzgerald to initiate the double play. Schmitt caught it but during the transfer, he dropped the ball, which led the second base umpire to term the runner safe.
Manager Bob Melvin asked for the play to be reviewed and on a closer look, it seem that Schmitt had the ball while his feet touched second base and only while throwing to first base did the ball come out of his glove. Upon multiple iterations, the review upheld the umpire's call which was runners safe.
This left many Giants players, coaches, fans and even broadcasters feeling angry. NBC Sports Bay Area's Mike Krukow and Duane Kuiper found the call "terrible and unbelievably bad."
"That's unbelievably bad. That's a terrible call," the broadcasting duo said. "Marvin Hudson and Adrian Johnson crews, wake up. Brutal."
Giants ace Logan Webb baffled by the decision of video umpire
Logan Webb pitched a gem on Thursday, throwing 7.2 scoreless innings to end a five-game losing streak for the Giants.
The pitcher was there when the controversial fourth-inning play was called for review. Like many Giants supporters, even he was left baffled when the call didn't get overturned.
“I think I was just mad,” Webb said. “I don’t know how that didn’t get overturned. I thought it should have been called out in the first place, but I think I used that to try and get the hitters out.”
However, the Braves could not tap into a possible scoring opportunity as Logan Webb first struck out Marcell Ozuna before the Giants converted a double play to end the inning.
The Giants went on to win the game 6-0, avoiding getting swept and will now head to Oakland for a two-game series.