Alex Verdugo had a frustrating night at the plate during the Yankees game against the Marlins. In his first at-bat, he got caught looking at strike three on a low-and-away slider. Everyone, including the catcher, seemed confused about the call. It looked like the umpire rang him up on the pitch location, not the swing, even though stat tracking tools all showed the pitch was outside. Verdugo wasn’t happy, but he walked back without too much protest.
Later in the game, with the Yankees trying to mount a comeback in the seventh, Verdugo led off and tensions rose again. The umpire called two more low pitches as strikes, and this time Verdugo voiced his frustration. Manager Aaron Boone came out to defend him, arguing both calls were clearly low. Boone was fired up and let the umpire have it, eventually getting tossed. He made it clear he thought Verdugo had been burned twice and was trying to spark the team for a rally. Boone left the field yelling that they were coming back and the umpire needed to tighten up. The Yankees didn’t make the comeback and ended up losing, but the tone of this sequence showed just how fed up they were with the strike zone.