Ump Show: Mets screwed on trio of brutal calls vs. Phillies in NLDS

Every call matters in every game, but calls are magnified a whole lot more in the MLB postseason, especially the missed ones. There's nothing MLB fans can't stand more than inconsistency from umpires, especially when that inconsistency seems to be impacting one team more than the other. New York Mets fans appear to be the victim of that inconsistent umpiring in Game 1 of the NLDS.

The task for New York after their thrilling win in the Wild Card Series against the Milwaukee Brewers is tough enough. They're matched up against their NL East rivals, the Philadelphia Phillies, and have to play each of the first two games at Citizens Bank Park in front of the loudest fans in the game. They have to deal with their ace, Zack Wheeler, in the series opener.

An already daunting task becomes that much harder when umpires make impactful calls that seemingly only are against the Mets. These three in particular stick out and have Mets fans up in arms.

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Mets fans have reason to be agitated with umpiring in NLDS opener vs. Phillies

Calling balls and strikes is incredibly difficult and something not many individuals can do at a high level, but in the NLDS, you'd expect to see close to perfect umpiring. Home plate umpire Andy Fletcher has been anything but close to perfect.

The biggest and most frustrating miss of the day thus far came in the top of the fourth inning. New York finally got something going against Wheeler, getting the first two men on to begin the inning. Pete Alonso struck out for the first out of the inning, but New York had Jose Iglesias, arguably their biggest spark plug at the plate.

Iglesias worked a 2-0 count against Wheeler, who had trouble locating that inning. He took a sinker that very clearly was inside, yet Fletcher called it a strike.

A 2-1 count is still a favorable hitters' count, but it certainly isn't 3-0. Two pitches later, Iglesias grounded into an inning-ending double play, allowing Philadelphia to escape with their skinny one-run lead.

Sure, Iglesias is at fault for swinging at a pitch nowhere near the zone on 2-1 and for grounding into the double play the following pitch, but he also should've been ahead 3-0. Perhaps he works out a walk, or at least avoids the double play. We'll never know.

Missed calls happen. Nobody expects a home plate umpire to be 100 percent perfect. What MLB fans and players want is some sort of consistency. In this Bryson Stott at-bat in the bottom of the fourth, we saw the exact opposite of that.

Stott took a first-pitch sinker from Peterson that was called a strike. That call could've gone either way, but it did appear to nick the outside corner. Six pitches later, Mets pitcher David Peterson went to the exact same spot with the exact same pitch, a sinker, yet Fletcher called it a ball. What would've been a strikeout, wound up turning into a walk one pitch later. How does the first pitch get called a strike and the seventh pitch get called a ball when they're virtually in the exact same spot?

As egregious as those two missed calls were, it's fair to give Fletcher some sort of leeway. Again, calling balls and strikes is really hard, and it's not as if challenges are allowed to reverse those missed calls. The calls that infuriate any fan are the ones that are glaringly obvious and can be overturned. A missed call at first base cost the Mets, and was entirely avoidable.

The Phillies had the speedy Trea Turner on at first base with two outs and two-time MVP Bryce Harper at the plate. One swing of the bat could easily turn a one-run game into a three-run game, which with Wheeler on the mound would be essentially game over.

Fortunately for New York, Peterson picked Turner off of first base, avoiding having to deal with Harper that half inning and giving the Mets offense a chance to do something — or so we thought. First base umpire Edwin Moscoso called Turner safe, but the Mets challenged the call. Replay review clearly showed that Pete Alonso's tag was on Turner's leg before his oven mitt hit the first base bag.

Somehow, this call stood. The Mets did not get out of the inning, even though video replay clearly showed that Turner was out. The Phillies didn't score that inning, but Harper drew a walk and Peterson had to get Nick Castellanos to fly out to end the frame. What's the point of replay review if the umpiring crew reviewing the replay doesn't get the call right?

Umpires are not the reason that the Mets could not touch Wheeler. They do not deserve to win this game based on their at-bats on Saturday. Umpires can be blamed, however, for making things even tougher for New York. There should not be this many brutal misses, especially aimed at one team.