Yasmani Grandal hit a three-run homer to put our Padres on the board tonight. Just kidding. It wasn't actually a homer. But the umps originally called it one. And with runners at the corners, that meant a 3-0 Friars lead.
The reality was that a fan had interfered and caught the ball, which may or may not have gone over the wall otherwise (you can judge for yourself here). Bruce Bochy promptly challenged the call and, after some deliberation, it was overturned. But the umps only awarded San Diego a single run. Anyone could see that Seth Smith would have easily made it home were that ball called a hit off the wall, but the officiating crew apparently didn't see it that way. And that made a certain manager pretty angry.
Now because of the new instant replay rules, managers can't argue an overturned call resulting from a challenge. That is why as soon as Buddy Black stepped foot outside the dugout, crew chief Brian O'Nora threw Buddy out of the game. Ejected, Buddy stopped giving a f___k and pretty much just went off on O'Nora and the umpiring crew. It was marvelous.
The call ended up not mattering because Tommy Medica came up to bat next and knocked in a double to bring home both the Stauppelganger AND Yasi, making up for it. Our Padres got their three runs... it just took an extra batter to do it.
In the end fans got to see an emotional, fired-up Buddy Black (who seems to be making appearances a lot more than usual this season, and is ALWAYS fun to watch) and a strong win over our Northern California rivals. Fun for the whole family!