Pirates' official scorer stands by error call to McCutchen
Despite being told he should lose his job, Tony Krizmanich isn't backing down from his ruling.
The Pittsburgh Pirates' official scorer was on the receiving end of some harsh words by Andrew McCutchen after giving the outfielder an error for misplaying a knuckling line drive by Chicago Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo on Wednesday. McCutchen has since apologized, but Krizmanich still feels Rizzo shouldn't have been awarded a hit on the play.
"In my opinion, no," Krizmanich said, according to TribLive.com's Rob Biertempfel.
The call resulted in McCutchen's first official error of the season.
Knowing the significance of designating a multi-time All-Star with a controversial error, Krizmanich wasted little time in giving the league the reasoning for his decision.
"I sent MLB my explanation right away," he said. "Normally, I wait until after it's contested, but I figured somebody will contest this one."
The scorer, who heard McCutchen's comments on the radio after the game, didn't take long to clear the air with the Pirates' center fielder.
"I thanked him for apologizing so soon," Krizmanich said. "I don't hold any animosity toward anyone. Those fellows are so good at playing baseball, I try not to make things more difficult for them.
"I just do my job and try to do it right."