'It was pathetic': Rocco Baldelli rips MLB over key call vs Blue Jays

Rocco Baldelli went scorched earth on MLB's replay center after a controversial call resulted in a Twins loss against the Blue Jays.

The Minnesota Twins and Toronto Blue Jays saw their game on Sunday end in controversial fashion after a replay review determined that Gary Sanchez had illegally blocked Whit Merrifield at home plate in the 10th inning. After Merrifield was initially called out on the play, an MLB official in New York reportedly deemed that Sanchez didn't give his opponent a clear lane to slide into the plate. The decision, which came from New York and not the umpires on the field, drew harsh scrutiny from Twins manager Rocco Baldelli, who was in utter disbelief over the events that transpired.

Via Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic, Baldelli sounded off on the game-ending decision, and he didn't hold back one bit when ripping into the call from New York.

Rocco Baldelli started by describing the overturned call as “chickenshit” and got even more heated from there.pic.twitter.com/wrY2Yt4wE1

— Aaron Gleeman (@AaronGleeman) August 7, 2022

In addition to calling the ruling “chickens**t,” Baldelli called the decision from New York “embarrassing” and “pathetic.”

“That play has not been called since the beginning of replay more than a couple of times… For someone to step in, in that situation, and ultimately make the decision that that was blocking the plate, that's beyond embarrassing for our game, for all the players out there on both sides of the field working their ass off… I can't even believe I'm sitting here talking to you guys about this right now,” said Rocco Baldelli. “It's one of the worst moments I think we've seen of umpiring in any game I've ever been a part of in baseball, and I think it was pathetic.”

Clearly, Baldelli needed to ensure his true thoughts were heard, as he went scorched earth on the decision during his post-game press conference. The Twins manager ensured that the media knew his anger was directed towards MLB's official replay center in New York, rather than the on-field umpires, who, in his mind, made the correct call at the time.

The Twins ended up losing the game 3-2 as a result of the decision from the umpires, and Baldelli was ejected in the top of the 10th inning after the call (which was originally ruled as an out) was overturned.