You'll never believe what the umpires did to the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday. Absolutely criminal. They forced the New York Yankees to bat around in the order and score seven runs when there were two outs. It was a scene nobody's ever witnessed in the sport of baseball.
Or, at least, that's what Brewers fans will tell you after they incessantly cried because of the crew's ruling on Aaron Judge's "interference" when sliding into second base.
After Judge walked in the top of the sixth, Alex Verdugo came to the plate and hit a grounder to second base. The Brewers had the perfect opportunity to turn two, which would've killed any threat. But when Judge slid, he had his hand raised in the air, and shortstop Willy Adames' throw to first base hit Judge's hand, so the DP wasn't executed.
The umpires discussed what had happened. Brewers manager Pat Murphy came out to argue the call. But it was ruled Judge was not intentionally interfering with the throw, so Verdugo was safe at first. It was an all-time bizarre sequence, but fans could've easily saw it go either way. The next batter, Giancarlo Stanton, popped up, and had Verdugo been called out, the inning would've been over.
With two outs, however, the Yankees batted all the way back around, scoring seven runs and putting the game out of reach in the sixth inning. That's what we call "melting down" on the Brewers' part. This wasn't getting wronged by a call. Getting wronged by a call would've been if this occurred in the top of the ninth and the Yankees took a narrow lead as Milwaukee ran out of time to respond. A call didn't go Milwaukee's way in the middle of the game, and they didn't have the fortitude to stop the bleeding.
And to make matters worse for the whiners in Wisconsin, there's a lengthy reel of proof that Judge always slides like this, so if this ever raised a red flag with the umpires before, they had the opportunity to squash it. Instead, Judge has never been approached about his sliding style, and for the first time in years, his hand came into contact with a throw to disrupt a defensive play.
Aaron Judge's controversial slide vs Brewers was perfectly normal
Just imagine if this happened in Toronto. Blue Jays fans would be rallying for the government to make a statement in opposition of the United States and their sliding practices in youth baseball.
Judge even acknowledged that's how he slides every single time into second base, so it's clear he's aware of it and that he's never been told otherwise.
The Yankees tacked on an additional four runs the next two innings to complete the 15-5 victory. They notched 18 hits and logged six walks. They went 7-for-18 with runners in scoring position.
Yes, Judge's hand extended the Yankees inning and gave them a chance to capitalize. We'd by lying if we said it didn't play a role in shifting the momentum in some capacity. But after that moment, it was the Brewers' pitching against the bottom of the Yankees' order, and Milwaukee failed miserably.
Anthony Rizzo walked. Gleyber Torres singled. Oswaldo Cabrera walked. Jose Trevino singled. Anthony Volpe walked. A majority of those guys have largely been ice cold, and the Brewers' pitching couldn't execute.
So if you need a scapegoat, yes, it's Judge and his nefarious sliding ways. If you need to come to terms with yourself? It's that your team just might not possess the necessary edge to deal with a shred of adversity.