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cincinnati reds blake dunn Atlanta Braves Terry Francona series loss

Cincinnati Reds outfielder Blake Dunn talks about the Reds’ tough week in Atlanta after he was involved in a controversial play in Thursday’s 11th.

The Cincinnati Reds were the victims of another questionable call by the umpiring crew during Thursday night’s 5-4 loss in their series finale against the Braves in Atlanta.

Fanduel Sports Network analyst Jeff Brantley blasted the umpires Tuesday night over a call during the Reds’ 2-1 loss. And in Monday’s series opener, rookie Tyler Callihan appeared to catch the ball on a play in which he crashed into the wall and broke his arm.

Thursday night, Blake Dunn was called out on a stolen-base attempt to end the top of the 11th inning, despite the fact that Braves second baseman Ozzie Albies’ knee was blocking the bag as Dunn slid head-first into second base.

Reds first-base coach Collin Cowgill was ejected for arguing. Manager Terry Francona also came out of the dugout to argue, and appeared to be ejected.

“You can see that Ozzie Albies dropped his knee on top of the bag,” Brantley said during the broadcast. “And that is part of the new rules that we have looked at throughout baseball here in the last few years. You can’t drop that knee in front of the bag.”

“That was a major point of emphasis and rigorously enforced last year,” Fanduel’s John Sadak said. “The Reds have been on the wrong side of that being overlooked this year. They had a challenge that was upheld when there was an obvious full cleat in front of the bag. … The letter of the law his knee’s down in front of the bag!”

The Reds challenged the out call, but couldn’t challenge the umpire’s non-call of obstruction.

“And it was in front of the bag,” Brantley added. “The knee was in front of the bag. The rest of the back of his leg was on top of the bag. … He definitely dropped the knee, and the knee was in front of the bag. So if we’re going by letter of the law, that knee is on the dirt in front of the bag. … (Francona) is right (to argue). There is no doubt that the knee was in front of the bag as Blake Dunn went into his slide. You can see that Ozzie Albies dropped his knee in front of that bag. And it was in front of the bag.”

After the game, Francona talked to reporters about the play.

“(Albies) had his knee in front of the base. There’s no way Dunn can stay on the base. And it’s unfortunate,” Francona said.