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Seattle Mariners

A Grip on Sports: Inconsistent umpire hampers Mariners’ chances

Friday: In the Mariners’ game (Thursday), I was a bit shocked to see umpire John Tumpane’s strike zone. According to the pitch-tracker, Tumpane, a Triple-A callup working the series, called pitches a couple inches outside strikes and pitches a couple inches over the inside part of the plate balls.

He was consistent. That’s all pitchers and hitters ask for: consistency. But there was a couple of inconsistencies that ended up costing the M’s the 5-4 defeat.

There were two levels of compassion displayed by Tumpane. The first was exhibited in the fourth inning when Alejandro De Aza was called out on strikes. The Oriole hitter stood at home plate for a while barking at Tumpane, then continued to harangue him all the way to the dugout. Others joined in. Finally, Tumpane stopped the game to tell the Orioles to cut it out. But no one was ejected. 

In the fifth, Kyle Seager early in his at-bat took a pitch a few inches off the outside corner for a strike. Nothing wrong with that. It had been called a strike all game. However, with the count 3-2 and Robinson Cano running from first, Seager took a fastball that the MLB tracker showed was barely on the inside corner. It was a pitch Tumpane had called a ball for four-plus innings. Not this time. Strike three. A strike-em-out, throw-them-out double play.

Seager was shocked. The super-slo-mo caught him questioning the call. Tumpane tossed him. It was Seager’s first ejection of his career.

The M’s five-hole hitter, one of their best at hitting with runners in scoring position, was now gone, replaced by Willie Bloomquist, who no one will mistake for Seager.

Because a Triple-A umpire had made a huge mistake – he should have either ejected both players or not ejected either – the M’s were saddled with another hole in their lineup.

Bloomquist ended up batting twice with the bases loaded. He failed both times.

If the M’s come up one game shy of the playoffs again, remember this game.