On July 11, 2015, the Pirates hosted the Cardinals and AJ Burnett got off to a shaky start, overthrowing a fastball early. He settled in quickly, though, throwing a perfect hook to strike out a batter. But a controversial moment followed when the umpire ruled a foul tip on what looked like a clear swing and miss. Slow-motion replays showed space between bat and ball, with no visible change in spin. Despite that, the umps got together and stuck with the foul call.
That decision backfired. Burnett went back to the curve, but this time Mark Reynolds caught it and crushed a homer. Pirates catcher Francisco Cervelli immediately lost it, yelling at the ump, and got ejected mid-second inning. He didn’t seem to realize it at first, then had to be held back by Burnett. Cervelli kept urging his case while showing off his haircut, but his night was done. Chris Stewart took over behind the plate and ended up tying the game in the 10th with an 0-2 single. The Pirates eventually won it in 14 innings with a walk-off.