In a bizarre turn of events, Tri-City ValleyCats outfielder Carson McCusker experienced a rare double-reversal by the umpiring crew during the sixth inning of Tuesday night’s game against Lake Erie Crushers. McCusker had a possible base hit taken from him, given back, and then taken away again. Despite the setback, McCusker still had a chance to be the hero in the seventh inning when he came up to bat with the bases loaded and two out. However, he struck out swinging against reliever Trevor Kuncl, ending Tri-City’s final threat and resulting in a 1-0 loss to the Crushers at Bruno Stadium.
Speaking about his missed opportunity, McCusker said, “I felt good. Just disappointed I couldn’t come through for my team right there. But it’s baseball.” After scoring 24 runs in a victory at Gateway on Sunday, the ValleyCats had a disappointing evening as they were shut out for the first time this season, managing only two hits.
ValleyCats manager Pete Incaviglia attributed the loss to their inability to get the “big hit” when they needed it, leaving 10 men on base against the Crushers who walked seven. McCusker thought he had a double with one out in the sixth that would have put the tying run in scoring position, but first-base umpire Antonio Archina ruled the ball as foul. McCusker and Incaviglia argued that it was fair, prompting Archina to confer with home plate umpire Tony Gisonti and David Sherman. Surprisingly, Gisonti awarded McCusker second base, which led to a heated exchange with Lake Erie manager Jared Lemieux.
However, the umpiring crew would later change the ball back to a foul, putting an unhappy McCusker back in the batter’s box. He struck out, and despite receiving the same explanation from the umpires, Incaviglia complained about the lack of consistency in their rulings. “We had that happen to us (in another game) and they overturned it. I don’t know what to tell you, to be honest with you. I’ve never seen a call overturned and then re-overturned. I’ve never seen that before,” he said.
The game was not without its controversies, as there was a bench-clearing incident in the sixth inning. Crushers reliever Darrien Ragins appeared to exchange words with the ValleyCats dugout and first baseman Zach Biermann after retiring Biermann on a popout to finish the inning. There were two separate scrums on the first-base side, but players were separated both times without incident. In the end, Lake Erie scored the game’s only run on a fielding error by Tri-City third baseman Pavin Parks, which brought home Mike Blanke with one out in the fourth. Lake Erie’s starter Yasel Santana and four relievers combined to secure the shutout.
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