WATCH: Umpire suffers mental lapse, rings up Heyward on strike two |
CHICAGO — Home-plate umpire Fieldin Culbreth suffered a mental lapse in the fifth inning of the National League Central tiebreaker. With the Chicago Cubs and the Milwaukee Brewers in a dead heat at one run apiece, Culbreth evidently got caught up in the heat of the moment and forgot the number of strikes on Cubs outfielder Jason Heyward.
After Heyward looked at the second strike of his at-bat, Culbreth rang Heyward up with the usual emphatic strikeout histrionics. Perplexed, Heyward calmly reminded the umpire that there were only two strikes, and Culbreth realized his mistake, waving off the strikeout and accepting responsibility for the blown call. Despite Culbreth's capitulation, the passionate Wrigley Field faithful let the umpire hear about it, booing and hissing until the next pitch was delivered. For what it is worth, Heyward ended up flying out, so the premature strikeout call was essentially harmless. Premature ejection. pic.twitter.com/M7uz2PBhVP
