The Phillies held on to beat the Padres, 4-2, Friday night to take a 2-1 series lead in the NLCS, but the ending wasn’t without drama and controversy.
With a runner on first and no outs in the top of the ninth, San Diego’s Jurickson Profar appeared to check his swing on a 3-2 fastball from Seranthony Domínguez. He flicked his bat away and started to head toward first, only to be called out by third-base ump Todd Tichenor.
Profar was enraged, throwing his hands up in the air in disbelief and spiking his helmet. He was ejected and on his way off the field he yelled “f–k you” in the direction of Tichenor multiple times.
While it’s difficult to definitively tell if he was able to stop his swing in time — certainly an argument could be made — the Padres outfielder, who went 1-for-4 in the game, wasn’t happy. Instead of a walk that would have put runners on first and second with no outs, it was a big first out for Domínguez, who retired the next two batters to close out the win.
“I thought it was really big,” Profar told reporters. “I thought I didn’t go. It should have been a walk.
“I didn’t have a really good chance to see [the replay], but I’m pretty sure I didn’t go. Maybe the bat was in front, but I was just getting out of the way and I didn’t go. I didn’t swing.”
Padres manager Bob Melvin, who came out of the dugout following the ejection, didn’t dispute the call afterward but didn’t exactly think it was the right one.
“Blocked out a little bit,” he said. “Originally, it looked like it might have gone. Go back and look at it, maybe the bat didn’t get out there. It’s a close call, tough one. But maybe not.”
As for Profar’s f-bombs on the way off the field?
“We play a game and we play with emotion,” Profar said. “We don’t play soft. We play to win. I play with emotion.”
Game 4 of the series is 7:45 p.m. ET Saturday in Philadelphia.
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