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Zach Eflin took the mound on Monday as the Baltimore Orioles squared off against a red-hot Toronto Blue Jays team. And one bizarre and frustrating moment during his outing had Orioles fans calling for a robot umpire takeover.
Facing Ernie Clement in the top of the fourth inning, Eflin laid a 90 mph sinker right over the heart of the plate. And the pitch was inexplicably called a ball.
WHAAAAAT pic.twitter.com/hVrYRmWD3a
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) July 29, 2025
The perplexing call on the middle-middle offering left Eflin and Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman looking stunned. Eflin appeared to stare in at the home plate umpire in utter confusion. The missed call swung the count in Clement’s favor and, after wisely taking on the next pitch, the Blue Jays' second baseman laced a single to center. He would eventually come around to score on a Will Wagner sacrifice, cutting the Orioles’ lead to 6-4.
Orioles overcome terrible missed call to beat red-hot Blue Jays
A close review of the pitch does reveal that Rutschman reached slightly to the right to make the catch. Perhaps the sudden movement made the umpire believe that Eflin missed his spot? Either way, it was a very minor adjustment and there’s really no excuse for blowing an incredibly obvious call on a strike down the middle.
Eflin was making his second start since returning from a month-long IL stint. He strained his lower back in a game against the Rays in late June. It was his second trip to the Injured List this season, as he also missed time with a right lat strain in April.
The 10th-year veteran was facing a Blue Jays team that had won eight of its last 10 games, building a 5.5-game lead in the AL East. So Toronto didn’t need the umpire’s help. Particularly against an Orioles squad that entered the day 11 games under .500.
Eflin ultimately allowed four runs on eight hits and one walk in 4 1/3 innings. However, Baltimore’s bullpen stepped up, holding the Blue Jays to just three hits in 4 2/3 scoreless innings. The performance was particularly impressive considering Gregory Soto was recently shipped to the New York Mets and Felix Bautista is on the 15-day IL.
The Orioles’ bats came alive against Toronto, with four home runs, all from the 6-9 hitters in the lineup. Baltimore pulled off the upset in the series opener against the Blue Jays, winning 11-4. The Orioles have now won three straight games after taking two of three against the Colorado Rockies.
