Ump job: Short-handed Cardinals get zero help on horrendous strikeout call

St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Brendan Donovan did not get any help from home plate umpire Laz Diaz, as he was struck out on horrendous calls.

The St. Louis Cardinals are up in Canada for a two-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays, but are without star players Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado due to being unvaccinated against COVID-19. With that, the Cardinals are starting Brendan Donovan at third base in place of Arenado.

On July 26, Donovan did not get much help from home plate umpire Laz Diaz. Facing off against Jose Berrios in the second inning, Donovan was struck out on three strikes that were not actually in the zone. Take a look at where the pitches land in the clip below, courtesy of Twitter account “@cardinalsgifs.”

Spoiler alert: they were outside the strike zone.

Cardinals: Brendan Donovan out on horrendous strike calls by umpire

So Donovan managed to strike out on three balls. That’s a new one. Of course, Diaz viewed those pitches as strikes.

At the time of the at-bat, the Cardinals were trailing 3-1. St. Louis was able to tie things up in the third inning on RBI singles by Dylan Carlson and Albert Pujols. That tie turned into a hefty deficit for the Cardinals in the sixth after Matt Chapman recorded an RBI single and George Springer hit a grand slam to give the Blue Jays an 8-3 lead.

Bad umpiring strikes once again, this time going against the Cardinals in what is a must-win series for them as they try to chase the Milwaukee Brewers for first place in the NL Central.