The Phillies were already trailing by six in the sixth inning when a weird sequence kicked off. A hitter tried a bunt and immediately claimed the ball hit his foot. The umpire initially agreed and awarded him first base. But after some back-and-forth and consulting with the rest of the crew, they reversed the call, saying it didn’t hit him. That sent Phillies manager Rob Thomson, aka Topper, into a meltdown. He struggled to understand how a call could be made based on input from umps much farther away, and why the opponent didn’t have to challenge in the first place.
Thomson argued that if the umpires weren’t sure, the opposing team should’ve been forced to use their challenge. Instead, the crew made a reversal, which shifted the burden back on Philadelphia to use one of their own. Topper got hot, shouted about respect, and ended up getting ejected. Fans loved it, some probably sensing it was more about boiling frustration in a blowout than just this one call. Players still asked to challenge the play after the dustup.
The replay showed it clearly didn’t hit the batter’s foot. His stance was legal, foot on the line, and the ball missed him entirely. So, the umpires got it right in the end, even if the process sparked a lot more drama than it needed. What played out was more about how decisions unfold on the field than the actual result. Thomson just wanted more consistency in a lopsided game that had clearly worn on him.