The Red Sox can't blame their 9-2 loss to the Houston Astros in Game 4 of the ALCS on poor umpiring. Not totally, anyway.
The Sox themselves can shoulder plenty of blame. They managed just five hits -- three when the game was still competitive in the first eight innings. They didn't have a single hit with runners in scoring position all night long. They committed two errors. And their bullpen gave up eight of the nine runs the Astros scored in the final two innings.
So, no, the umpiring didn't beat the Red Sox. But it sure didn't help.
In the third inning, home plate umpire Laz Diaz appeared to incorrectly ring up J.D. Martinez with a runner on first and one out. Martinez, who isn't one to give umpires much grief, argued vociferously with Diaz and manager Alex Cora had to sprint from the dugout to save his slugger from being ejected with six innings remaining.
"I didn't agree with the J.D. call,'' said Cora. I didn't. The way the (Astros) catcher (Martin Maldonato) reacted to the whole thing, I think we thought it was a ball. We didn't agree with that one.''
But that proved minor when it came to the consequences of a missed pitch when compared to one in the ninth inning.
With the game tied 2-2 and Houston baserunners on first and second, reliever Nathan Eovaldi threw a 1-and-2 curveball to Houston's Jason Castro. Eovaldi was so sure it was strike three, he sprinted off the mound in the direction of the home dugout. But Diaz didn't lift an arm.
Two pitches later, Castro laced a single to center to score Carlos Correa with the go-ahead run. That set in motion an ugly inning in which Eovaldi and Martin Perez allowed seven runs, turning what had been a tie game into a blowout.
"I've got to take a look,' said Cora diplomatically. "A lot of people thought it was a strike. I've got to take a look at the video and see how it went. I haven't had a chance to take a look at it.''
Eovaldi didn't equivocate as much as his manager.
"Yeah, I thought it was a strike, but again, I'm in the moment,'' said Eovaldi. I'm trying to make my pitches, I'm attacking the zone. I felt like I made a good pitch on the outside corner and it didn't go my way. But I've got to come back and I've got to answer back and make another good pitch. You're going to get calls that go your way and some that don't go your way. Our job is to go out there and keep attacking the zone. Whether we get a pitch that goes our way or it doesn't, we have to move on to the next pitch and not let it affect us.''
While Eovaldi was careful not to place the loss on Diaz's shoulders, others tip-toed around the question of Diaz's efficacy.
Asked for his view on Diaz's strike zone, Red Sox starter Nick Pivetta took the fifth.
"I'm not going to comment on that tonight,'' he said.
Given a second opportunity, and asked specifically about the pitch to Castro, Pivetta cut off his questioner mid-sentence.
"I'm not going to say anything,'' said Pivetta.
The Red Sox weren't the only ones unhappy. A number of Astros took issue with Diaz's balls-and-strikes calls throughout the night, though none of their objections came on a pitch with as many consequences as the one Diaz seemed to miss in the ninth, with the game hanging in the balance.
It was too late to do anything about it anyway. The call had been made, the damage had been done, and the loss was recorded. No amount of whining about an umpire's inconsistent zone -- or even out-and-out blown calls was going to change any of that, something that most of the Red Sox seemed to take into account when carefully considering questions.
But again, Diaz's work sure didn't help things.