Yandy Diaz tried to check his swing. First base umpire James Hoye disagreed.
Love the call or hate it, that’s how Game 2 of the World Series ended: not on a walk-off hit or play in the field, but a walk-off call by an umpire.
Swing or no Swing? pic.twitter.com/r762zbOnwg
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) October 25, 2026
The final out of the Milwaukee Brewers‘ 5-4 come-from-behind victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday, Oct. 24 was logged as a swinging strikeout of Diaz by pitcher Aaron Ashby.
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Considering the difference between a ball and a strike on check swings is entirely subject to an umpire’s opinion — not the official baseball rulebook — opinions of the call’s accuracy will vary widely from Milwaukee to Tampa Bay.
With no game on Sunday, expect debates over the call to burn through the rest of the weekend.
Certainly, the Rays thought they had something brewing when Jonny DeLuca led off the ninth inning with a double. A groundout sent him to third base, putting the tying run 90 feet away and one of baseball’s most patient hitters — Diaz — at the plate with two outs in the top of the ninth inning.
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The Rays led 4-0 after the first inning, but were undone by Milwaukee’s relentless small-ball offense and a home run by Sal Frelick. Several miscues in the field didn’t help the Rays’ cause either.
Ashby threw 1.2 innings and did not allow a run for the save. The left-hander has thrown 15.2 scoreless innings across eight postseason games without allowing a run, breaking Goose Gossage’s record for the most scoreless innings in reliefin a postseason.
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