“Ump has money on the padres”; “He would have been safe” - Dodgers fans upset as Shohei Ohtani gets out at home plate after umpire gets in the way
Shohei Ohtani is easily one of the calmer personalities in the Los Angeles Dodgers dugout. However, with an intense NLDS faceoff against the San Diego Padres at hand, it's hard to blame him for losing his cool. On Wednesday, one such rare moment arrived after he was caught short at home, taking away a potential run.
During the fourth inning, Ohtani was walked by Padres reliever Adrian Morejon. Ohtani advanced to second base on Mookie Betts' fly ball. Then, Teoscar Hernandez hit the ball wide out of third baseman Manny Machado, who fielded the ball and dropped out of the glove, hitting the third base umpire stationed there.
Due to this, the ball was easily collected by Machado, who fired the throw at home plate and caught Ohtani short of it. Had it not hit the umpire, Ohtani could have easily completed the run and added to the Dodgers' lead.
After the play, Ohtani was visibly disappointed, shouting out in frustration.
Fans on the internet also shared their disappointment after the play unfolded.
"UMP HAS MONEY ON THE PADRES," one fan commented.
"WTH was that? He would have been safe if it didn’t hit the ump, and wouldn’t have been waved on if it happened sooner 🤦♂️" another posted.
"How is that not a dead ball, runners stay where they are at. Absurd. Ump must have Padres ML wager," another added.
Some had hilarious reactions to it.
"UMP WAR just went up +2," one added.
"Machado's playing chess while Ohtani's stuck in checkers. Who knew umpires doubled as backstops in San Diego?" another commented.
Shohei Ohtani and the Dodgers avoid elimination to force Game 5
The stakes couldn't have been any higher for the Dodgers, as they were on the brink of elimination entering Wednesday's NLDS Game 4. LA dropped Game 2 and Game 3 to get into a 1-2 situation in the best-of-five series. More so, its best hitter, Shohei Ohtani, wasn't at his best, only hitting 1-4 in Game 3.
However, the tables turned for good as Ohtani and the Dodgers registered a dominant 8-0 victory against the Padres to force Game 5 at Dodger Stadium.
Ohtani went 1-3 and drove in one run while also getting walked twice. While those are not good numbers, considering his high standards, helping his team win is the only thing that matters. Apart from Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Gavin Lux homered.