Orioles fuming after Yankees benefit from baffling Pete Alonso foul home run call

It was the bottom of the seventh inning at Camden Yards with the score knotted at three and two outs. Pete Alonso stepped up to the plate with two outs and the bases empty. First pitch swinging, the Polar Bear launched one high down the left field line into the stands, but the ball was ruled foul. Orioles Manager Craig Albernaz asked for a crew chief review, and upon review, it was still called a foul ... but was it really?

Multiple angles of the hit make it look like the ball was fair, not to the left of the pole. Ball tracking data makes the same argument, yet somehow, MLB's replay center didn't see it the same way. Their statement said, “After viewing all relevant angles, the Replay Official could not definitively determine that the ball left the playing field in fair territory."

Rightfully so, the Orioles and Orioles fans are furious. Never mind the fact that it's the Yankees; the Orioles are in the middle of a playoff chase, and every game counts. That home run would have put the Orioles up 4-3 with two innings to go. It also stole Alonso's second home run of the game and 30th of the season.

The Orioles made it clear after the game MLB needs an advancement in technology

Quotes from the Orioles postgame showed just how upset they were about the lack of technology. Pete Alonso talked about how far behind baseball is in this aspect. "I think a simple fix is like football, you have the pylon camera with the plane, where it shoots right across the goal line," Alonso said. "And I feel like, for us, we could easily have a laser or a camera that shoots straight up."

Craig Albernaz shared a similar sentiment. "There are teams using AI on the iPads, and other sports use ball-tracking data for challengeable calls. Don't understand why we don't do it."

Veteran starting pitcher Chris Bassitt made arguably the strongest comments of them all when he gave his opinion as to why they don't have that level of technology. "Because it’ll cost money. That’s it. That’s literally it.”

Of course, on the other side, Yankees manager Aaron Boone fanned the flames a little. "Sorry, Pete. I think it was foul," he said postgame, talking to YES and citing the Yankees internal challenge expert's opinion.

The Orioles are rightfully upset. Most angles of the home run make it look like a fair ball, and that would have completely changed the final two innings of the game. Clearly, though, MLB didn't have enough information to overturn the call (but, like Bassitt said, probably could've gotten that information if they'd been more dedicated to the cause all along!).

The Orioles will need to regroup, though. They have another game with the Yankees tonight, with a chance to pull themselves back within a game of the final Wild Card spot.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow