Craig Counsell Goes Off On Umps After Bogus Call Costs Cubs Late

On the brink of sweeping the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday night, things went south fast for the Chicago Cubs.

Up 2-1 in the bottom of the eighth inning, Tyler Ferguson came on and immediately struck out Tyler Ward. Five outs away from the win, he would hit both Gunnar Henderson and Pete Alonso on back-to-back at-bats to put the go-ahead runner on. I know .. yikes!

Craig Counsell did the right thing and promptly called for Ryan Rollison, who has been nails for the majority of the year. Nevertheless, three pitches in, Jeremiah Jackson sent a low four-seamer perfectly into the gap between right and center field for a bases-clearing double. The Orioles now had a 3-2 advantage.

Rollison would walk a batter before finally getting the last two outs. The Cubs suddenly had their backs against the wall, only to catch a huge break to begin the ninth. Nico Hoerner reached on a fielding error by Henderson, putting the go-ahead run at the plate with no outs on the board. What came next, however, shut down every ounce of Cubs momentum.

Hoerner made a break for second base, as Orioles catcher Samuel Basallo whipped the ball toward Henderson. By all indications, Hoerner had the throw beat, especially with Basallo sailing a tad high. The Cubs' infielder was still ruled out, though, after Henderson apparently held the tag as Hoerner accidentally slid off the base.

Chicago would challenge, knowing that the only reason Hoerner was forced off the bag was that Henderson blocked the plate with his foot. The umpires didn't rule it that way, giving the Cubs their first out of the inning and emptying the bases. It was a brutal call, especially when considering Ian Happ singled in the next at-bat and potentially could have scored the speedy Hoerner. The Cubs would go on to lose.

"I've had this happen before where the shortstop puts his foot in front of there, and you don't know where it is as a player ... and then if you slide late, the ground is so slick ... you see Nico slides past the base."

Ryan Sweeney gives his insight on Nico Hoerner's stolen… pic.twitter.com/ElHkVuuF1M
— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) July 9, 2026

To be sure, the Cubs have to accept the fact that their shaky bullpen blew the game late. They were in a position to win and simply couldn't hang on. At the same time, it always stings when a bad call possibly changes the outcome of the game.

But don't take my word for it!

Cubs' Craig Counsell Talks Missed Call

Jun 28, 2026; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell (11) looks on from the dugout prior to during the game against the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Craig Counsell doesn't often show emotion, but the manager was very clearly fired up after last night's flop by the umpires.

“It’s not the push. There is a clear blocking the bag there. It’s very clear," Counsell told Marquee after the game. "The reason why Nico came off the bag is because the player was blocking the bag, and he has to adjust his slide. So, then they go to review. They’re not even looking at the blocking of the bag when that’s what caused the player to come off. It’s kind of illogical that you don’t look at blocking the bag when it’s what caused the player to come off the bag.

So, they can’t look at it. He did come off the bag and was tagged, but he came off the bag because Henderson had his foot right in the sliding lane, which is illegal. So New York is staring at it [but] because Ramon didn’t call it on the field, they don’t call it. That makes no sense.”

Counsell is right. It sure seems to defeat the purpose of the rule if officials can't implement it in this specific situation. It shouldn't matter whether or not the call was made in the moment. The fact of the matter is that the Cubs challenged and forced the review, and everyone could then see that Henderson forced Hoerner to slide off the base path.

Had Hoerner decided to go straight through the play, he would have risked injury to either himself or Henderson. He was doing the right thing by trying to go around the Orioles star, but struggled to stay put due to the awkward angle. Did it still beat Henderson to the punch and then come off the bat? Yes, but that shouldn't necessarily matter if the positioning of the slide is what forced that to happen.

Once again, this play alone didn't cost Chicago the win. Hoerner would still have needed to come around the bases, and the Cubs would have still needed to score another run. But that's now really the point. You want to see the right calls made in big moments, regardless of how it's initially called on the field. At the end of the day, everyone in the building knew that was a textbook case of blocking the bag. As long as replay is activated, correcting that call should be allowed.

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