Wednesday’s game between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Houston Astros featured a controversial ending when home-plate umpire Brian Walsh made a highly questionable strike call on Ketel Marte that decided the game. It was such an egregious call that Diamondbacks broadcasters Steve Berthiaume and Bob Brenly couldn’t help themselves but openly criticize Walsh’s judgement.
With a runner on first base and two outs, facing a one-run deficit in the bottom of the ninth inning, Marte was called out on strikes via a slider that didn’t appear to catch any part of the strike zone. On the call of the final pitch, Steve Berthiaume was audibly shocked that the strike call was made on what should have been ball four.
“3-2 to Ketel Marte,” said Berthiaume as the pitch was thrown by Astros closer Josh Hader. “Oh no! Oh no!”
“The slider was never in the strike zone,” added Brenly.
“That’s a called strike three to end the game from plate umpire Brian Walsh,” added Berthiaume.
Dbacks broadcast was disgusted by this called strike three to end the game pic.twitter.com/kPa7V1nt1W
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) July 23, 2025
You could tell by Marte’s reaction to the pitch that he very clearly thought it was a ball, nearly tossing his bat to the dugout and jogging over to first base before looking back at Walsh who had made the strike three call.
Obviously, there is no guarantee that the Diamondbacks would have won the game even if Walsh had made the right call in this situation, as they were still trailing by one run with two outs. But they at least would have had a fighting chance with two runners on and Corbin Carroll, arguably their best hitter, coming to the plate.
It’s an incredibly painful loss for a Diamondbacks team that is attempting to claw their way out of the double-digit game deficit they face in the NL West standings.
And based on where the pitch ended up landing, the vast majority of baseball fans and local media members saw the reaction to the called strike from Berthiaume and Brenly seemed to understand their frustration.
“Dbacks broadcast has every right to be pissed off at that horrendous game ending call,” wrote Jomboy Media researcher Dalton Feely. “I was pissed off watching that. Made me sick. Every game matters for the Dbacks at this point before the deadline. Umps making them sellers.”
Dbacks broadcast has every right to be pissed off at that horrendous game ending call
I was pissed off watching that. Made me sick
Every game matters for the Dbacks at this point before the deadline
Umps making them sellers https://t.co/LEX3Bk4nPE
— Dalton Feely (@dfeely14) July 23, 2025
“Easy challenge next season,” wrote MLB columnist Mike Harrington, referring to MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred’s plan to have an automated balls and strikes challenge system, starting in the 2026 season.
Easy challenge next season. https://t.co/O5K3rb2FKD
— Mike Harrington (@ByMHarrington) July 24, 2025
Wednesday’s loss could very well have big implications for the Diamondbacks, which in turn has a big affect on the rest of the league as we approach the 2025 MLB trade deadline on July 31.
While the loss on Wednesday obviously isn’t the entire reason for the team’s struggles this season, it could very well lead to the team being sellers at the deadline, which MLB Network insider Jon Heyman alluded to after the game.
“Diamondbacks, beset by bad luck this year, are nearly resigned to selling now. Eugenio Suarez, Josh Naylor, Merrill Kelly and Zac Gallen are all free agents, and talks will presumably start getting serious soon,” wrote Heyman in a post on X.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.