Referee scorecards confirm how bad Gonzalez was in Giants-Cubs originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
The Giants overcame a brutal strike zone attack from home plate umpire Manny Gonzalez in their thrilling 7-6 comeback victory over the Chicago Cubs on Monday night at Wrigley Field.
At that point, the Giants and everyone watching the game on TV realized how bad Gonzalez’s strike zone was, but two referee evaluators confirmed what was clear in real time.
Umpire Auditor noted that in Monday’s game, Gonzalez missed a season-high 27 calls, while Umpire Scorecards had him at 26 missed calls and a run expectancy of plus 1.19 for the Cubs.
According to the referee scorecards, the three most impactful decisions all went against the Giants.
Manager Bob Melvin endured nearly eight innings of bad calls and finally had enough when Gonzalez called Matt Chapman for a called third strike to end the top of the eighth inning.
Mark Leiter Jr.’s throw was low and reached the edge of the zone, but Chapman clearly thought it was ball four and started walking toward first base when Gonzalez called strike three.
Melvin was ejected after the third strike on Chapman and he gave Gonzalez some rest before heading to the Giants clubhouse.
Melvin had time to compose himself and offered a more reasoned view of the situation while speaking to reporters after the game.
“It makes it a little difficult, but you know, being a referee is not an easy job,” Melvin said. “And both parties have to deal with it. Sometimes it goes your way, sometimes it doesn’t, but you have to put that away and still look for a good pitch to hit and if it isn’t there, try to get on base especially when you’re behind like that, you get a few guys on base and one big swing and we end up winning the game.”
Gonzalez entered Monday’s game as one of the least consistent home plate umpires in the MLB, so it’s no surprise that his strike zone was all over the place.
The Giants fell behind 6-3 in the seventh inning, but they didn’t quit as Patrick Bailey crushed an eight-inning solo homer and Thairo Estrada hit a go-ahead three-run homer in the ninth inning.
Despite Gonzalez’s strike zone, the Giants found a way to get their 36th win of the season.
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