Among all the things that are going on in MLB, the umpires have got their share of the spotlight. It started with making bad calls, but now they seem to have taken it up a notch. It looks like the umpires are forgetting the rules of the game. The Mets-Nationals game was close and went to extras after the scores were tied after 9 innings at 5-5.

But in the extra innings, the New York Mets took off. But there was a long delay in the 12th inning that caught the eye of a lot of fans. The Nationals wanted to bring in a position player to pitch as the game had gone out of hand, but it looks like the ump had forgotten the rules.

Mets announcer Gary Cohen did not mince his words. “So the umpires did not know the rule,” the Mets Hall of Famer said. “That is basically what this came down to. That is truly embarrassing.”

His broadcast partner, Keith Hernandez, joined in the criticism, completely baffled that the officiating crew needed outside help to understand their own rulebook.

In the 12th inning, the Nationals tried to put infielder Jorbit Vivas on the mound. The Mets had absolutely gone mad, scored five runs and taken the game out of hand, and that is when the Nationals decided that they would want their position player to pitch. But the umpires blocked the move at first. They stopped the game because of the 8-run rule, forgetting that extra innings wipe out that restriction completely.

The mistake surprised everyone. The extra-inning rule is simple and made for this exact situation, not a rare technicality. It shocked fans to watch the umpires delay the game for five minutes to call the replay center in New York and verify a basic rule.

MLB rules normally allow trailing teams to use position players only while losing by eight or more runs. Winning teams, meanwhile, need a 10-run lead before using position players. However, in extra innings, those restrictions are removed because teams have often depleted their bullpens. That specific exception allowed Vivas to pitch despite the Washington Nationals trailing the Mets by only five runs.

After officials confirmed baseball’s rule correctly, Vivas immediately entered while Jose Tena shifted toward third base. The Mets showed Vivas no mercy and went after him. Vivas pitched a total of 0.2 innings and gave up four hits and three runs.

The Mets scored a total of 10 runs in the 12th inning, their highest extra-inning output since 1917. Brett Baty hit 2 crucial RBIs while Bo Bichette added on with a 2-run double. This gave the Mets one of their biggest wins of the season with a 16-7 victory.

But even with this win, the Mets players are still not happy with their performance.

Bo Bichette is not happy with his start to his Mets career

Even with the New York Mets starting to get wins and after winning the Yankees series, Bo Bichette is not happy. Bichette arrived in Queens on a three-year, $126-million deal after leaving Toronto. But the start hasn’t been very good.

Through the 46 games, Bichette has MLB’s fifth-worst OPS, sitting at just .571. He has an average of just .219 and 21 RBIs. Bichette admitted, “There are things I didn’t anticipate,” while talking about adjusting to New York and the atmosphere here.

But his defensive transition has given Mets fans something to look forward to with the player. Before Francisco Lindor’s injury, Bichette handled third base despite having very little experience there. Statcast credited Bo Bichette with +2 fielding run value, showing that the star player’s glove has been doing a decent job. But against the Yankees on Sunday, Bichette dropped a 6th-inning pop-up, allowing a run during a close 7-6 win. And all this has added to his struggles.

But that struggle feels surprising because Bichette had a good offensive season in 2025 before suffering a knee injury. Before missing the last few regular-season games, Bichette led MLB in hits and doubles.

Even after the injury, Bichette still finished 2nd in both. He even had a great offseason with 6 RBIs. But the underlying numbers show that Bichette’s difficult opening months may not be as bad as people are telling them to be.

His .269 slugging percentage remains lower than the expected .399. This just shows that Bichette more often than not has hit in bad situations and has not been fruitful. So, there might be some positive regression that might come and push Bichette’s numbers up.

Bichette admitted, “I don’t know if it’s been the toughest stretch of my career… But it’s up there.”  But right now, Bichette says that starting on a new team, he is just trying to make an impact in every game he is playing and trying to help his teammates.