Thursday afternoon, the Cincinnati Reds finished off their three-game sweep of the Houston Astros at Great American Ball Park (CIN 1, HOU 0). Ty France, who went 9 for 11 in the series, hit a solo home run for the game's only run.
There was some controversy in the fourth inning, when it appeared Rhett Lowder hit Alex Bregman with a pitch. The pitch only grazed Bregman's forearm, and home plate umpire Brian O'Nora initially called it a foul ball. The Astros challenged the call, the replay shows pretty clearly that it was not a foul ball, yet the call stood. It was ruled a foul ball.
Here's the play:
It was announced that the call "stands" after replay, and that is official terminology. "Stands" means the replay crew did not see enough evidence to overturn the call. "Confirmed" means they saw conclusive evidence to stick with the call on the field, and "overturned" means they saw conclusive evidence to change the call on the field.
So, since the call "stands," that means the Astros lost the challenge of the hit-by-pitch, and thus the call on the field stayed the same. In this case that means the incorrect foul tip call stood. That incorrectly called foul tip put Bregman in a 1-2 count, and he later struck out for the second out. The Astros put the next two runners on base, but did not score in the inning.
"They just said that, since the call stood, they couldn't turn it to an actual ball instead of a strike even though the replay showed it didn't hit the bat," Bregman said after the game (via the Houston Chronicle). "... We didn't do anything offensively today. (The call) is not what won or lost the game by any means. We just didn't do anything offensively."
Astros manager Joe Espada was ejected later in the inning for arguing the called strike three on Bregman.
"I didn't think that ball hit the bat," Espada said (via the Houston Chronicle). "Clearly, that's what the replay showed. And I just did not agree with the call."
Even with Thursday's loss, the Astros are 75-65 and five games up in the AL West. Houston is well-positioned to with irs fourth straight division title, and seventh in the last eight years.
