SAN FRANCISCO — In the bottom of the tenth inning on Sunday afternoon, it looked as if the San Francisco Giants were bound for another dramatic walk-off victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Giants trailed the Dodgers 2-1 heading into the bottom of the tenth, but managed to put the game-tying run on first with Kenley Jansen on the mound.
After Jansen struck out Brandon Crawford, Brandon Belt stepped up to the plate with two outs and an opportunity to win, or at least tie, the game.
He worked a 2-2 count only to take a ball that appeared to be high, but was called a third strike.
“Tough call at the end,” Bochy said. “It’s a ball. That’s the way the game goes sometimes. Call goes against you. Ball doesn’t go your way. But it certainly was not a strike.”
Courtesy of mlb.com.
When it was called a strike, Belt immediately turned to home plate umpire Bruce Dreckman to argue the call. After the game, he expressed similar frustration with how the game ended as his manager.
Brandon Belt looked at video of the final pitch. “It was easily, easily too high. There’s not much else to say. It just wasn’t a strike.”
— Andrew Baggarly (@extrabaggs) April 8, 2018
When Bochy was asked about whether he liked the team’s chances against Jansen, he answered, “I did. These guys had been fighting back and we had some good hitters up there. Pence found a way to get on base and get the tying run there.
“Like I said, we had some really good hitters coming up,” Bochy added. “So I did like my chances.”
