The Boston Red Sox suffered a tough loss on Saturday to the Cincinnati Reds, falling 6-5 in 11 innings at Great American Ballpark. Several times on Saturday, the Red Sox found themselves on the wrong end of some missed calls.
Behind home plate was umpire C.B. Bucknor, who had eight ball and strike calls challenged and six of them overturned. Manager Alex Cora was ejected in the eighth inning after Trevor Story was called out on strikes.
After the game, Cora gave his two cents on the situation and Bucknor’s missed calls.
“He has one job to do, it’s call balls and strikes,” Cora said, as quoted by Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic. “It wasn’t his best day. That’s what the system does. It’s out there. Everybody sees it, and he’ll be the first one to accept it. I saw him putting his head down after one of the challenges. We’re all human. It’s not easy, what we do and what he does.”
The ABS system is going to put umpires on notice this season. Bucknor has been criticized over the past several years for his ball and strike calls.
The system didn’t work in favor of the Red Sox on Saturday, but it is going to expose the flaws of several umpires and their calls behind the plate.
It will be interesting to see how it affects certain umpires as the season progresses. Cora wasn’t pleased with Bucknor on Saturday, the Red Sox ultimately caught the short end of the stick.
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