Dodgers & Diamondbacks Announcers Unite in Fury Over Umpiring Injustice Toward Freddie Freeman

The Diamondbacks opened their series in style, taking down Shohei Ohtani and the Dodgers with a commanding 3-0 shutout. In case you missed it, Arizona’s pitching was the story of the night, as the D-backs improved to 67-69, and the spotlight fell squarely on Zac Gallen.

Well, Gallen was lights out, giving up just two hits, one of them an infield knock by Ohtani. He did issue three walks, but balanced that out with eight strikeouts, completely keeping the Dodgers’ bats quiet. And his line was nearly flawless, though there was one moment that stood out for the wrong reasons. A blown call from behind the plate. While that’s so common in MLB, this one was so bad it actually had announcers from both broadcast booths in agreement: the umpire missed it!

“He gets a gift of a call from Phil Cuzzi, who’s — looking at a different game,” Diamondbacks announcer Steve Berthiaume said. What’s more surprising is that the Dodgers announcer Orel Hershiser also remarked, “It might have been a strike for a long time, and you try to make it a strike for a long time, and it ends up as a ball. But you don’t expect the umpire to call it.“

Now, that’s quite uncommon in MLB…

So, the story began in the sixth inning with two outs and a runner on second, when Freddie Freeman stepped in for the Dodgers. After Gallen fell behind with a couple of balls, he delivered a 2-1 pitch that was clearly low. And probably outside too. But home plate umpire Phil Cuzzi saw it differently and rang it up as a strike!

And what made the call stand out even more was the situation. Notably, Gallen wasn’t exactly attacking Freeman, but he was definitely pitching him with caution. Freeman had fouled off the first pitch, then Gallen missed well outside on the next two to make it 2-1. Instead of going 3-1, Gallen caught a huge break with this gift strike call. But still, his next two pitches missed low as well, and so Freeman still drew the walk.

Umpiring errors are nothing new for the Dodgers veteran

For Freeman, though, it was deja vu. Because this isn’t the first time he’s been burned by a blown call. For instance, back in 2021, the Dodgers veteran was called out at home on a slide that replay clearly showed should have gone his way. Reportedly, his foot touched the plate before the tag. But the initial ruling stood long enough to stir up plenty of frustration.

Then go even further back to 2015, and he wound up being ejected after a heated checked-swing debate on a full count. Freeman believed he held up, but the appeal went against him, ending the inning and stranding a runner. And his reaction earned him an early exit.

So yes, Gallen stole the headlines for his brilliance on the mound this time. But one of the night’s side stories was yet another chapter in the long, rocky relationship between Freddie Freeman and MLB umpires. And if history is any indication, this back-and-forth is far from over.