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SAN FRANCISCO — Wilmer Flores swung — or he didn’t — and that was it. Last call for the San Francisco Giants.
A surprising and spectacular ride for the Giants came to a startling halt Thursday night. Flores slowly walked back to the dugout after being called out on a disputed check-swing, finishing a 2-1 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 5 of the National League Division Series.
“It looked like he didn’t go. I mean, that was my take on it,” Giants manager Gabe Kapler said.
“I just think it’s just a disappointing way to end,” he said.
Kapler added: “It’s heightened on the last play of the game … in this case a check-swing.”
“That’s going to be the thing that is talked about quite a bit and I understand why,” he said. “I just don’t know how much sense it makes to, for us, on our side, to pick that apart. I don’t know how much, how helpful it’s going to be.”
Kapler’s ballclub, which set a franchise record with 107 wins in the regular season and had stayed a step ahead of the Dodgers the whole year, couldn’t finish off the defending World Series champions in a winner-take-all game.
Instead, the Giants’ final chance ended when Flores was rung up on an 0-2 pitch from Dodgers ace Max Scherzer working in a rare closer’s role.
With a runner on first and two outs, Flores appeared on TV replays to hold up on a low-and-away slider that missed the strike zone. Plate umpire Doug Eddings checked with first-base ump Gabe Morales, who ruled Flores swung. Check-swings are judgment calls and not reviewable under Major League Baseball replay rules.
“I mean, the immediate emotion is frustration, right?” Kapler said.
“Super tough. Yeah, I mean, obviously you don’t want a game to end that way. I know these guys work really hard to make the right call, so it’s super challenging on our end. Obviously it’s going to be frustrating to have a game end like that. But a pretty high-quality hitter at the plate that can climb back into that count, it’s no guarantee of success at the…
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Source : espn
