Wednesday night’s game in Houston is going to sting for a long time, especially if you’re a Yankees fan. We’re talking about the kind of loss that doesn’t just go in the “L” column — it burrows deep into your baseball soul and sets up camp.
A Missed Call That Changed Everything
The Yankees are in the thick of a razor-close playoff race. Every pitch, every inning, every bloop single and blown call is potentially the difference between October baseball in the Bronx or an early tee time in Florida. So what happened Wednesday night? Nothing short of infuriating.
Bottom of the ninth. Two outs. Nobody on. Yankees down one. Jazz Chisholm steps up, works the count full, and then—bam—a pitch sails well outside the strike zone. He starts heading to first, thinking he’s just extended the inning and given the Yanks a shot at pulling off a gutsy comeback.
But wait.
Home plate umpire Brian Walsh—who, to be frank, had already turned in a disaster class behind the plate all night—rings him up. Called third strike. Game over. Astros win 8-7. Minute Maid Park erupts, and Yankees fans everywhere collectively scream into the void.
Tempers Flare as Boone Gets Tossed
Chisholm was absolutely livid, and honestly, who could blame him? The man was robbed of a clear walk, and with it, the Yankees were robbed of a fighting chance. He let Walsh hear about it before his teammates pulled him away—because at that point, what else can you do?
And Aaron Boone wasn’t even around to defend his player in that moment, the Yankees skipper had already been tossed earlier in the game for—you guessed it—ripping into Walsh about his strike zone. It was that kind of night.
Yankees Now in a Tightrope Race for October
Now, with that loss, the Yankees fall 3.5 games behind the Blue Jays in the AL East and are clinging to a wild-card spot in a dogfight with the Red Sox. Every game matters. Every call matters. And on a night when the Yankees needed fair umpiring the most, they got the short end of the stick.
Look, bad games happen. But bad officiating is a whole different beast. And in the middle of a playoff chase, it’s the last thing any team needs.
