Jerry Meals admits to blowing call in Rays-Red Sox game

Blair Johnson
Jerry Meals admits to blowing call in Rays-Red Sox game

If 2010 was the most recent "Year of the Pitcher", 2013 may be the Year of Bad Umpiring. Veteran ump Tim Timmons prompted David Ortiz to lose it over the weekend. We've also seen Marty Foster provide Texas Rangers closer Joe Nathan an assist in achieving a career milestone and Angel Hernandez remind us why former Atlanta Braves great Chipper Jones won't watch any game he's a part of.

So when Jerry Meals blew a call at home during Monday night's important AL East tilt between the Tampa Bay Rays and Boston Red Sox, it shouldn't have come as a big surprise. What was surprising was Meals admitting he blew the call. With the Rays up 2-1 in the bottom of the eighth with runners on second and third and one out, Brandon Snyder lifted a fly ball to left-center. Tampa Bay left fielder Sam Fuld made the catch for the second out, then threw to catcher Jose Molina in an effort to double up Daniel Nava trying to score from third. It appeared Nava slid under Molina's leg and should've been called safe — but he was called out. Sox skipper John Farrell was ejected for arguing the call. End of inning, still 2-1. The Rays went on to win by the same score. That prompted this tweet from Boston owner John Henry:

Here's what Meals told a pool reporter from the Associated Press after the game:

"What I saw was: Molina blocked the plate and Nava's foot lifted. But in the replays, you could clearly see Nava's foot got under for a split second and then lifted, so I was wrong on my decision. From the angle I had, I did not see his foot get under Molina's shin guard."

In football news, a photo of Green Bay Packers rookie running back Eddie Lacy made him look more like defensive tackle B.J. Raji. But after a second look, it was just a bad angle.

And in Olympic news, Michael Phelps wouldn't rule out a comeback in Rio when pressed by NBC's Dan Hicks during the World Championships in Barcelona.

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