DENVER —
Manny Machado looked at a called third strike that ended his second at-bat Thursday night, and as he walked to the dugout he shared a dissenting opinion with home plate umpire Chris Guccione.
The eighth-and-final pitch of the at-bat was, indeed, a strike.
But Machado has been among the most-penalized players in the majors this season at having pitches outside the strike zone called strikes. It has happened 35 times, compared to the 17 times he has had a pitch in the strike zone called a ball.
An even bigger victim has been Eric Hosmer, with 45 balls called strikes versus 19 strikes called balls.