Dodgers: Giants fans trying to spin bad umpiring in series finale in their favor are a joke

The San Francisco Giants got the last laugh this weekend when they swiped a crucial series from the Los Angeles Dodgers after winning Sunday’s rubber match.

However, no matter how you look at it, the home plate umpire hosed LA in the ninth inning when the tying run was at the plate.

Tony Randazzo rung up Mookie Betts on a strike three call that was nearly three inches off the plate. That left it all up to Justin Turner as the Dodgers were down to their final out, but he couldn’t get the job done. It didn’t help that there was added pressure with two outs following that botched call.

What’s even more of a joke? Giants fans and San Francisco media trying to spin Randazzo’s awful job on Sunday in their favor because of some of his poor work in the earlier innings.

Giants fans and SF media are trying to spin Tony Randazzo’s bad game in their favor.

Yeah … about that. We’re not sitting here saying Randazzo’s horrible game didn’t benefit the Dodgers at all, but we’re also not going to revisit the umpire scorecard and deem a few missed calls in the earlier innings when the Giants were up 6-0 as San Francisco getting “screwed.” Bad umpiring goes both ways!

A blunder costing you an out in your final at-bats really trumps a few borderline (!) calls made in the third and fifth innings. And we’re really going to harp on that first “miss” when an overwhelming majority of the ball wasn’t even in the zone? OK. He called it a strike even farther inside four innings later to decide the game … in the Giants’ favor.

Looking at the accuracy in totality doesn’t entirely tell the whole story. The Giants were the beneficiaries of the most generous call when it mattered most. The “run expectancy” aspect of it all does hold weight, but a bases-loaded walk in the fifth inning to make the score 6-2 is a lot different than Mookie Betts at the plate with the game-tying run on board in the top of the ninth.

Yep, much more to consider. In the end, the Dodgers didn’t do enough to win and it’s never a good sign when bad calls further put an exclamation on the loss, but it is September, every game matters, and no game is truly over until the final out is recorded — especially after what we’ve seen from both of these teams this year.

The past is the past, but Dodgers fans certainly do not want to see Giants fans whining about Randazzo’s strike zone after the differences in magnitude it had on these teams this past Sunday.

Dodgers: Clayton Kershaw making rehab start soon is fantastic news

Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw will begin a rehab assignment with the Triple-A team in Oklahoma City on Tuesday.