Royals' Matheny disputes game-ending call, demands accountability

Kansas City Royals manager Mike Matheny disagreed with the umpires' call that ultimately ended Sunday's game against the Chicago White Sox.

"If we're going to use video replay, there needs to be some accountability," Matheny said, according to Jesse Rogers of ESPN. "I walked in here and had two different camera angles with this guy out. Tagged before he ever touched the plate. Very obvious. I don't know what they're doing, backing each other up, whatever it is. It's wrong."

White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu scored on a wild pitch from Royals reliever Wade Davis after appearing to avoid catcher Cam Gallagher's tag.

Umpires reviewed the play, and another angle gave the impression that Gallagher may have successfully applied the tag.

The call was eventually upheld, and the White Sox walked off as winners in the 4-3 contest.

Matheny maintains they got it wrong.

"They have the opportunity to take that much time, and from appearances, it looks like they don't want to bring them (the players) back onto the field while they're here with this crowd," he said. "It's just wrong, and something has to be done about it."

White Sox outfielder Adam Eaton basically called it sour grapes.

"C'mon, baby. He was safe," Eaton said, according to Scott Merkin of MLB.com. "They said he was safe, they even gave it replay. I had a pretty good view of it. Cam, I think, made the right decision. It's tough for a pitcher to run that far and to catch (and) find the plate, and we don't want another collision. Bang-bang play. Heck of a slide by José, and we'll definitely take it."

The Royals now drop to 18-22 on the season and have lost 13 of their last 15 games.