This blown Trea Turner call helped end Dodgers’ awful night vs Phillies
The Los Angeles Dodgers have hit a bit of a rough patch lately, as they have fallen in three straight games after a red-hot start. Trea Turner was trying his best to get the Dodgers back on the right track, but even he was unable to overcome some egregious umpiring last night.
Despite the fact that Turner was going up against a Philadelphia Phillies team struggling to take off this season due to their suspect bullpen, they were unable to put away Bryce Harper and the club’s resurgent offense. Even a late rally failed to put them in the winner’s circle.
A Justin Turner game-tying blast helped this game head into extra innings, though Philadelphia was able to grab a two-run lead early in the added frames. Turner had a chance to potentially walk it off or tie the game, but he had it taken away by umpire Paul Emmel.
With two on and two out while down by two runs against Phillies closer Corey Knebel, Turner had strike two called on him despite the fact that Knebel’s curveball was several inches off the plate. The Phillies ended up winning, making LA’s recent downward swing even tougher to swallow.
Trea Turner was robbed in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ loss.
The umpire scorecard from last night showed that Emmel didn’t have his best night at the plate. Of the 47 called strikes Emmel tallied last night, 11 of them were actually balls. The Turner strike call may have been the worst call, given the circumstance and how egregious the miss was.
The Dodgers have had a hard time beating teams from the state of Pennsylvania, as they have lost both of their games against the Phillies following two defeats at the hands of the lowly Pirates. Turner himself is contributing to this slide, as he went from a consistent .300 hitter to someone that can only muster a .273 average.
LA’s umpire-induced decline has come at the worst time, as the Padres have tied them for first place in the NL West while the Giants have slowly crept up to a respectable third place. Los Angeles is seeing their grip on the division slip away thanks to this start.
The Dodgers have enough problems to deal with right now. Max Muncy can’t hit the ball out of the infield, Clayton Kershaw is on the IL, and poor recruiter Turner hasn’t been hitting up to what the back of his baseball card says he is. They don’t need the umps to make things even harder.