Look, baseball purists can preach “don’t let the game come down to one call” all day long, but let’s be honest—when the final pitch of a tight ballgame clearly misses the zone and still gets called a strike? Yeah, people are gonna talk. And that’s exactly what happened Wednesday afternoon when the Houston Astros walked away with their fourth straight win thanks to what can only be described as a gift-wrapped strike-three call from home plate umpire Brian Walsh.
Umpire Call That’ll Live in Infamy
Bottom of the ninth, Astros clinging to a 4-3 lead, Josh Hader on the mound, and Arizona’s Ketel Marte fighting to keep the game alive with a full count. Hader unleashes a sweeping slider that… well, just didn’t land anywhere near the zone. Everyone saw it. Everyone heard it. Except for one person—the only person who matters in that moment—Walsh, who rang up Marte and punched Houston’s ticket to victory.
Broadcast Team Left Speechless
Cue the outrage, the Diamondbacks’ broadcast crew couldn’t hold back. Play-by-play man Steve Berthiaume barely got out a shocked “Oh no. Oh no…” before color analyst Bob Brenly jumped in with the real talk: “That slider was never in the strike zone. Ever.” Not “borderline,” not “questionable”—just flat-out wrong.
Astros Keep Rolling, D-Backs Keep Slipping
But that’s baseball, right? Sometimes the story isn’t about who hit the big homer or made the game-saving catch—it’s about who missed the call. In this case, Houston will gladly accept it. The win puts the Astros at 60-42, keeping their playoff push rolling. On the flip side, the Diamondbacks are now skidding with their third straight loss, falling to 50-53 and slipping 5.5 games out in the NL wild-card chase.
You hate to see a game end like that. But if you’re in Houston? You’ll take the W—missed strike zone and all.
