Red Sox learned the hard way after screwing up ABS challenges vs C. B. Bucknor

On a day that home plate umpire C. B. Bucknor had no less than six pitches overturned via ABS challenges, the Boston Red Sox wasted their challenges too early.

Roman Anthony's failed challenge in the third inning (with Boston having just one remaining after an earlier, failed challenge by Carlos Narváez) left the Red Sox out of challenges for the rest the game, which ultimately lasted 11 innings and ended in Boston's first loss of the season.

Anthony took accountability for the failed challenge following the game. In Anthony's defense, he had just won a challenge on the previous pitch when he decided to challenge again with a 3-1 count. Remember also that Anthony won a pivotal challenge in the ninth inning of Boston's opener, avoiding a strikeout and enabling the Red Sox to produce two more runs of insurance for Aroldis Chapman.

As such, it's possible that Anthony got a little overconfident in the third inning of Saturday's game, which led to the failed challenge.

"Just not a good time to challenge," Anthony admitted in the clubhouse following then loss. "Just got too aggressive with it. (That) can't happen."

Roman Anthony, Red Sox mismanaged ABS challenges in a poorly-umped game

What made Boston's lack of challenges from the fourth inning onward so painful was that Bucknor made plenty of questionable calls the rest of the game, including a fastball clearly above the zone that Caleb Durbin lifted his hand to challenge in the seventh inning before quickly remembering that his club had none left.

Bucknor's most viral miscue of the day was his awful strikeout ruling of Trevor Story in the eighth inning. Story clearly checked his swing successfully, but Bucknor ruled that he hadn't, and he didn't even bother to verify the decision with his first base umpire. The usually stoic Story exploded with rage, and Red Sox manager Alex Cora got himself tossed for arguing with Bucknor about the heinous call.

Through all of Bucknor's bad moments on the day, the Red Sox's lack of challenges stung badly. Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic estimated that Boston would have probably won at least two further challenges against Bucknor had they not extinguished their two by the fourth inning.

Bucknor was inaccurate for both clubs. The Cincinnati Reds challenged five calls from Bucknor, winning all five. Particularly memorable was Eugenio Suárez winning two challenges during the same at-bat in the sixth inning, avoiding a strikeout in both instances against Red Sox right-hander Ryan Watson. ESPN's Jeff Passan used the Suárez at-bat to write a mini-thesis on X about the efficacy of the ABS system.

It was a tough outing for Bucknor, that's for sure. Following the game, Sports Illustrated's Stephen Douglas went as far as to write that, "Bucknor has wasted no time establishing himself as the No. 1 villain of the ABS era." Yikes.

In essence, Bucknor's blunders on Saturday provided plenty of entertainment value, a boost for the reputation of ABS, and nothing but positive outcomes for the Reds. Boston was on the wrong end of things this time around, but it sure sounds like Anthony will be more selective moving forward when it comes to tapping his helmet.