MLB fans could not believe their eyes during the ninth inning of Monday night’s game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago Cubs.
The Cubs poured on the runs Monday night, scoring a whopping 18, prompting the Pirates to substitute first baseman Rowdy Tellez to pitch in the last inning.
With one out in the ninth inning and runners on third and first base, Tellez pitched to Cubs third baseman Patrick Wisdom.
Wisdom was pinch-hitting for Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner.
Tellez’s first pitch only reached 42 miles per hour on the radar gun and landed 14.6 inches out of the strike zone.
Despite the pitch landing practically in the left-handed batter’s box home plate umpire Scott Barry called it a strike.
All the Pirates broadcast team could do was laugh at the strike one call.
Wisdom turned back to Barry, shared some words with him, and then seemed to laugh it off.
But Barry didn’t give Wisdom much of a response as the at-bat continued.
Wisdom was hit by a pitch later in the at-bat and scored the Cubs’ eventual 18th run later in the inning.
Fans rushed to social media to slam Barry’s strike call.
“The Worst Strike Call of the Year,” one fan claimed, adding a laughing emoji.
“Ump just wants to go home,” said a second fan, adding a crying emoji.
“It feels like the word ‘egregious’ isn’t used enough, poor Pat Wisdom is just trying to finish out his baseball career and a 1st baseman gets this call,” a third wrote to X.
“Elevated zone,” said a fourth fan.
“Ump has a dinner reservation lol,” joked a fifth.
MLB All-Star starters 2024
American League
C: Adley Rutschman (Baltimore Orioles)
1B: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (Toronto Blue Jays)
2B: Marcus Semien (Texas Rangers)
3B: José Ramírez (Cleveland Guardians)
SS: Gunnar Henderson (Baltimore Orioles)
OF: Aaron Judge (New York Yankees)
OF: Steven Kwan (Cleveland Guardians)
OF: Juan Soto (New York Yankees)
DH: Yordan Alvarez (Houston Astros)
National League
C: William Contreras (Milwaukee Brewers)
1B: Bryce Harper (Philadelphia Phillies)
2B: Ketel Marte (Arizona Diamondbacks)
3B: Alec Bohm (Philadelphia Phillies)
SS: Trea Turner (Philadelphia Phillies)
OF: Jurickson Profar (San Diego Padres)
OF: Teoscar Hernández (Los Angeles Dodgers)
OF: Christian Yelich (Milwaukee Brewers)
DH: Shohei Ohtani (Los Angeles Dodgers)
Meanwhile, Tellez only gave up one run in the ninth and recorded two hits in five at-bats.
He has a .248 batting average on the season and has smashed 11 home runs and drove in 44 runs.
Wisdom has had a subpar season, knocking seven home runs out of the park and recording 22 runs batted in.
Tuesday night the Cubs and Pirates will meet at 6:40 pm Eastern Time for the second game of their three-game series.
Both teams have struggled this year as Chicago enters the next game with a 66-66 record.
Pittsburgh has more losses than wins on the season with a record of 62-69.