Giants-Indians play half inning without umpires
Saturday's game between the San Francisco Giants and Cleveland Indians ended bizarrely, with the two teams playing the bottom of the ninth inning without umpires.
The Giants, who were the home team, led the game 5-4 entering the bottom half of the frame. The contest would have typically concluded there, but the two clubs had agreed to play the full nine to get pitchers some additional work.
Kapler said the Giants agreed during the game to playing the full nine because Cleveland brought pitchers who needed work; Sandy Alomar had asked during the game and the Giants had no issues with it. Kapler also thought Beau Taylor did a good job calling balls and strikes. 😆
— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) March 14, 2021
However, the umpires apparently weren't interested in sticking around.
The Giants and Cleveland agreed to let the Giants bat while they're ahead in the bottom of the ninth. Umpires disagreed and went home. They're playing without umpires.
— Jesse Thorn (@JesseThorn) March 13, 2021
Without anyone to call balls and strikes, Cleveland's catcher Beau Taylor took over umpiring duties while squatting behind home plate.
"Ha ha, yeah, I had to call strikes and balls," he told Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. "I told the batters to work with me."
Taylor appeared to have trouble splitting his focus between the two jobs.
Play-by-play guys aren't entirely clear on whether the scoreboard operator or the catcher is calling balls and strikes. Joey Bart just took a 4-1 pitch for ball five and trotted down to first.
— Jesse Thorn (@JesseThorn) March 13, 2021