Red Sox had their issues with umpires
We could all practically taste it. The Sox were in the driver’s seat. They had stolen a game in Houston, won Game 3 at Fenway, and were tied 2-2 at home entering the 9th inning of Game 4. They were just three outs and one run away from taking a commanding 3-1 series lead. While taking such a lead would not have guaranteed the Red Sox a trip to the World Series, just ask the 2007 Cleveland Indians, it certainly would’ve given the Red Sox the upper hand in the series and made it a lot harder for the Astros to comeback.
But alas, this did not happen, as it would all fall apart in large part due to home plate umpire Laz Diaz. Let us set the scene. Nathan Eovaldi, who was pitching in relief for the Red Sox in the 9th, had given up a lead off double to Carlos Correa, but had retired the next two batters and was up 1-2 in the count on Jason Castro.
Diaz had a horrible night behind the plate. According to Jeff Passan of ESPN.com, Diaz had missed 23 ball-strikes calls up to that point, but had been relatively consistent as 12 of the missed calls had been in favor of the Red Sox and the other 11 were in favor of the Astros.
Laz Diaz is now up to 23 missed ball-strike calls tonight.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) October 20, 2021
Worth noting: 12 of them were on pitches thrown by Red Sox pitchers, 11 were on pitches thrown by Astros pitchers.
But the one everyone -- at least everyone in Boston -- is going to remember is the Nathan Eovaldi curve.
The next few pitches would not only break that tie, but have a dramatic effect on the game and ultimately the series. Eovaldi threw a 1-2 curveball that very clearly nipped the outside corner of the strike zone, but was called a ball by Diaz.
Two pitches later Castro would give the Astros the lead with a single to center. The Astros would go on to score seven runs in the inning putting the game away before the Red Sox even had a chance to hit in the bottom of the 9th.
Had Diaz made the correct call, Eovaldi would have been out of the inning and the Red Sox would have entered the bottom of the 9th tied 2-2 with the chance to walk off game 4 and take a 3-1 series lead.