We will, of course, never know what might have happened to Jake Marisnick’s pinch-hit at-bat in the ninth inning if plate umpire Cory Blaser had made the right call on Josh Hader’s first pitch to Marisnick.
But seriously, Cory Blaser, pitch 1 was not a strike, not even close:
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22467452/Screen_Shot_2021_04_24_at_5.21.41_PM.png)
Hader had just walked Nico Hoerner to start the inning. If he throws ball 1 to Marisnick... well, maybe the at-bat, maybe the inning goes differently.
The automated strike zone cannot come soon enough for me.