The on Saturday evening topped the visiting and, in doing so, ended their four-game losing streak. , , and each homered in the eventual A’s win.
Speaking of Soderstrom, he was involved in a controversial moment in the fourth inning. Soderstrom challenged a 2-0 pitch from Yankees starter that plate umpire Adam Beck ruled a strike. Based on replay, the pitch appeared to be outside the strike zone by a significant margin — 0.8 inches low, per MLB.com — but the Automated Ball Strike system appeared to experience a delay, and Beck’s strike call was upheld. Here’s a look:
This isn’t how ABS Challenges are supposed to work. 🧑🦯
The usual graphic showing the location of the challenged pitch never showed up on the Sutter Health Park video board, even after a delay, so it’s possible the ABS system glitched, which may have meant the review process defaulted to the umpire’s original call of strike one. Soderstrom eventually drew a walk anyway, and the A’s loss of a challenge didn’t alter the eventual outcome of the game.
A’s manager Mark Kotsay, who was able to review the call on a tablet after the inning, addressed the incident after the game, via :
“The explanation on the field was the umpires were told from the communication upstairs, the controller of the ABS, that the call was confirmed.
“Obviously, they don’t have access to the iPad,” Kotsay said. “They only have access to the information they’re being told through their ear piece. That’s something we need clarified through the league and we will have that conversation with the league.”
The win pushed the A’s to 28-30 on the season, and they remain in second place in the American League West behind the surging . The Yankees, meanwhile, are 35-23 following the loss and 1 1/2 games behind the in the AL East.
