OAKLAND – Ryan Buchter only faced one batter Friday night, but he had some choice words for home plate umpire Bill Welke after the game.
"At the end of the day, (MLB umpires) can do whatever they want, call balls or strikes," Buchter said. "There's no repercussions, there's no fines. They have absolute job security, but that's baseball."
Buchter entered a 2-2 game in the eighth inning with runners on the corners and no outs. He got ahead of Angels slugger Justin Bour with a first-pitch fastball, then appeared to throw strike two with a 77 mph curveball.