Game 5 has quickly become home plate umpire Lance Barskdale vs. the Washington Nationals. Throughout the night he has had two different strike zones, one for the Nationals and one for the Houston Astros.
After blatantly missing a strike 3 call and then blaming Nationals catcher Yan Gomes for moving before his call, Barksdale rung up Victor Robles on a pitch from Gerrit Cole that was well outside of strike zone.
The full-count pitch clearly should have been Ball 4, and placed Robles at first base with Ryan Zimmerman moving over to second in a 4-1 game in the seventh. Instead, it was a Strike 3 call.
The Nationals dugout couldn’t believe the oblivious call. Robles threw his bat and helmet in the direction of Barksdale in disguise.
The Nationals then allowed a run in the eighth to extend the Astros’ lead to 5-1, laminating the bogus call from Barksdale.
Indirectly, Barksdale’s umpiring helped shaped the narrative of Game 5. The Astros are a great team, but the Nationals have been on the wrong side of questionable calls from the home plate umpire throughout the game. It won’t be surprising if Nationals manager Dave Martinez doesn’t have a few choice words about questionable umpiring.
