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The San Diego Padres’ season ended on Thursday night, but they did not head home before letting the umpires hear a mouthful.
The Padres fell to the Chicago Cubs, 3-1, in a decisive Game 3 of the National League Wild Card Series, as the lead run made the final out with a flyout to center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong.
However, as the umpires left Wrigley Field on the first-base side — through the Padres’ dugout — several members of San Diego had to be held back after going crazy on the men in black.
The Padres were getting blanked entering the top of the ninth, but ended the shutout with a solo home run from Jackson Merrill. The next batter, Xander Bogaerts, worked the count full when he saw a 97-mph fastball from Brad Keller that was below the zone, but home plate umpire D.J. Reyburn rung him up.
Bogaerts practically fell to his knees, as manager Mike Shildt also briefly said something.
“Next year, that is a hat tip in a millisecond,” play-by-play man Kevin Brown said, referring to the automated balls and strikes system that will be implemented in 2026.
Brown added that Reyburn “bailed out” Keller.
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Keller then plunked two consecutive batters, forcing manager Craig Counsell to bring in Andrew Kittredge, who retired the next two to get the save and send the Cubs to the Division Series.
After the final out, multiple members of the Padres dugout got awfully close to the umpires and gave them an earful as they headed toward the bowels of the Chicago stadium.
It is hard to blame the umps, though, when the Padres’ biggest stars failed to show up in the biggest game of the year. The top three batters — Fernando Tatis Jr., Luis Arraez and Manny Machado — combined to go 0-for-11, while Yu Darvish allowed two runs before recording an out in the second and was promptly pulled.
“It’s not fun at all. We definitely missed an opportunity,” Tatis said.
It will now be a battle between NL Central rivals, the Milwaukee Brewers, for a trip to the NL Championship Series. To add some pulp to the juice, Counsell managed the Brewers for nine seasons before abruptly leaving for the Cubs ahead of the 2024 season.
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