The Los Angeles Angels lost Wednesday night, and they have every right to be upset.
The New York Yankees beat the Angels 1-0 in a tight battle, but they got a lot of help in the final inning from home plate umpire Ben May.
Angels designated hitter Logan O'Hoppe was facing Mark Leiter Jr. in the bottom of the ninth inning when May took the bat out of his hands.
L.A. had Matthew Lugo on first with two outs, and O'Hoppe faced a 2-2 count. That's when Leiter uncorked a curveball that was clearly far off the plate, but May rang O'Hoppe up to end the game.
Video is below.
A brutal strike three call ends the game pic.twitter.com/ydYwcn3TzF
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) May 29, 2025
Here's a look at the location:
These umps need to be prosecuted pic.twitter.com/2f24QIzSk4
— Not Scott Kingery (@AngelsFaithful) May 29, 2025
That is a brutal call, made even worse by the fact that it ended a close game. Given the context, it has to be one of the worst calls of the year.
This is why MLB needs to implement the ABS challenge system as soon as possible. This call would have quickly been overturned, and Leiter would have faced O'Hoppe with a 3-2 count.
Instead, the game is over, and everyone was cheated out of what could have been an exciting finish.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Yankees Secure Win Over Angels Thanks to Dreadful Called Third Strike.
