The San Diego Padres weren't dead, but they were damn close in a do-or-die Game 3 of the NL Wild Card Series against the Chicago Cubs. They entered the top of the ninth inning trailing 3-0 with the offense not showing signs of life — but then it did, as Jackson Merrill barely lifted a ball over the right field fence to cut the deficit to two runs. That brought Xander Bogaerts to the plate, and he did everything right to ensure that a Padres rally was still alive. And the umpire did everything to try and kill it.
Bogaerts worked a full count against a reeling Brad Keller and awaited a crucial pitch. The veteran shortstop watched as it went several inches below the strike zone and began taking off his gear and walking to first base, which is when home plate umpire D.J. Reyburn gave him the hook for strike three and the Padres first out of the inning.
But again, this wasn't even a borderline or close call — it was as clearly a ball as you're ever going to see, and the ump flat-out screwed the Padres over with a dog-water call.
The Padres would love to have ABS right now pic.twitter.com/UP807z5ej7
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) October 3, 2025
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San Diego Padres screwed out of comeback by ump's horrendous strike-three call
The Padres still found life against Keller, to be sure, who hit the next two batters he faced to put the tying run on base and the go-ahead run at the plate with only one out — but it should've been the bases loaded if not for the umpire.
And having the bases loaded would've absolutely mattered. Andrew Kittredge relieved the struggling Keller after the two hit-by-pitches following the Bogaerts strikeout, which brought Jake Cronenworth to the plate. He made soft contact and was close to beating out an infield single, but came up short, though he did advance both runners. But think about if the shortstop had been on — the Padres would've cut the Cubs' lead to just one run, ramping up the pressure even further!
Fans are always going to be annoyed, pissed off, and downright angry about bad calls until we get the robot umpires with the ABS challenge system coming to MLB next year. However, the last thing you want is for one of those bad calls to truly, even for a neutral observer, feel like it swayed the game meaningfully just can't happen.
Honestly, I would almost want to call for MLB to not let Reyburn behind the dish for the rest of the postseason. That's how bad the call was and how big the moment was in which he completely failed at his job. There has to be consequences for that, and that's the most obvious way to accomplish that.
Of course, that will be of no solace to Padres fans in the end. The season is over now after Cronenworth's groundout and a flyout to from Freddy Fermin to end the game. But it could've at least been much more interesting had that not been the case.
Who knows what would've happen if Bogaerts had rightfully been awarded first base with a walk? We won't ever get that knowledge thanks to the ump show.