Ron Washington Slams Home Plate Umpire After Angels Loss to Rays
To say Los Angeles Angels manager Ron Washington disagreed with home plate umpire Doug Eddings' strike zone in a 4-2 loss to Tampa Bay on Wednesday would be an understatement.
Eddings rung up Matt Thaiss on a borderline call that was low and outside to start the bottom half of the inning and the game ended with Mickey Moniak striking out with a runner on second and Mike Trout on deck. Moniak and Washington were visibly furious about two called strikes earlier in the at-bat.
Washington stepped onto the field, lit into Eddings after the finals out, and voiced his displeasure with his strike zone unafraid of what consequences might follow.
“When you got two strikes, you got to try to battle,” Washington said. “But I do think in that ninth inning, he must have had a flight that he was missing, because that’s exactly the way he called the game. He called that game like he had somewhere to go. Didn’t take into account that we fighting to try to win a game. I thought he had somewhere to go ’cause that was ridiculous.”
After the game, Washington wasn't pleased and harshly criticized one of his players. Jo Adell singled in the eighth and chose not to slide on a stolen base attempt only to get tagged out when he overran second base. The play ended the inning.
“Hopefully that will never happen again because when you actually look at it, it was embarrassing to all of us,” he said. “I know Jo didn’t mean that in that manner, but we’re down 4-2, and it was a teaching moment.”
It was a disappointing day all around for the Angels who fell to 6-6 with the loss. Next up is a three-game series in Boston starting Friday with first pitch scheduled for 4:10 p.m. PT.
