Matt Quatraro ejected for arguing check-swing call that may have cost Royals the game
The Kansas City Royals were not thrilled in waning moments of their 6-2 loss to the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.
In the ninth inning, the Royals were frustrated by a controversial check-swing call made by first base umpire Vic Carapazza. He ruled that Red Sox second baseman Luis Urias didn’t swing on a 3-2 fastball from Royals reliever Carlos Hernandez.
It proved to be a critical call, as the inning would’ve been over in a 2-2 game. The next at-bat, Red Sox shortstop Pablo Reyes hit a walk-off grand slam to win the game on Monday night.
Royals manager Matt Quatraro discussed the call after the game. He was ejected for the second time on the Royals’ seven-game road trip.
“Well, obviously, I thought he went,” Quatraro said. “Vic makes the call. He has the better angle, but I obviously disagreed with that.”
Hernandez, who has assumed more late-inning opportunities, took the loss. He said the call hurt the Royals’ momentum after coming one strike away from sending the game to extra innings.
“I just tried to do my job and help the team win,” Hernandez said. “Like I said before, it was a bad call and changed the outcome of the game.”
Quatraro said he didn’t see the grand slam. He was in the clubhouse after leaving the dugout due to his ejection.
“Yeah, I can’t think of being much more frustrated than that,” Quatraro said. “(Hernandez) gets the strikeout to move to extra innings and then he didn’t. I don’t really have much else to say about that.”
Royals outfielder MJ Melendez agreed. He felt that Urias swung at the pitch.
The Royals have three walk-off defeats this season.
“It’s really unfortunate as the next batter ends up hitting a walk-off home run,” Melendez said. “It’s definitely really frustrating. … It’s a tough way to go out.”
Despite the loss, the Royals got a stellar performance from starting pitcher Cole Ragans. The southpaw struck out 11 batters in 6 2/3 innings of work. He retired his final seven batters and allowed two runs (one earned) in his outing.
Melendez went 3 for 4 in the game.
The Royals fell to 36-78 and have lost three consecutive games since their seven-game winning streak.
