Before Sunday’s game at Yankee Stadium, the mere fact that Angel Hernandez was installed as the home plate umpire drew boos.
It didn’t take long for Hernandez to become embroiled in controversial calls.
Gleyber Torres, who was leading from the bottom of the first inning, took a 3-2 count against Beauden Francis. The Blue Jays right-hander then appeared to take a step off from behind the mound before going right into pitching.
Torres seemed to think Francis had come off the mound and retreated outside the box, but Hernandez called Torres for strike three on a pitch that happened to be a few inches above the strike zone.
Torres immediately filed a lawsuit against Hernandez, and manager Aaron Boone also came out and countered.
In the end, all four umpires got together and had a brief conversation, but it didn’t help the Yankees, and the call stood.
This again drew loud boos from the Yankee Stadium crowd.
Coach Boone returned to talk with Coach Hernandez after the inning, but did not seem satisfied with the explanation he received.
The season is less than two weeks old, but Hernandez was already at the center of controversy by Sunday.
Earlier this week at Citi Field, Hernandez ruled that Tigers first baseman Spencer Torkelson swung at a pitch that may have hit his fingers or the bat, but he didn’t see him swing.
