On May 7 in Milwaukee, Yasmani Grandal and the Los Angeles Dodgers fared quite well against Mike Fiers, touching him up for five runs in five innings. The Dodgers went on to win that game 14-4 behind a career afternoon from Grandal, who reached base six times, hit two home runs, and drove in a career-high eight.
That was then, this is now.
On Friday night in Houston, it was Fiers turn to have a career night. Making his third start for the Astros after a July 31 trade, Fiers dominated and dismantled the Dodgers lineup on his way to his first career no-hitter — or complete game for that matter.
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So what was the difference between those two outings other than the date and location?
Well, obviously, Fiers was much more effective and comfortable on the hill. However, Grandal, the Dodgers catcher, thought it ran deeper than that. Following the game, he was quicker to credit the strike zone of home-plate umpire John Tumpane for Fiers' success, while pointing out past issues Tumpane.
From the Orange County Register:
This whole season I’ve been fighting that guy,” Grandal said. “It just seems like every time he’s behind home plate, for some reason, I’m getting calls outside of the strike zone.”
Grandal felt the squeeze on his first at-bat, a strikeout in the second inning, but he said nothing, hoping Dodgers starter Brett Anderson would get the same sort of calls. He did. But, when a 2-1 pitch in the seventh inning again went against him, Grandal said something. He struck out swinging on the next pitch.
That's just a part of the story. Grandal's full comments give a clearer picture of his frustration.
Yasmani Grandal took issue with John Tumpane's zone for no-hitter: “This whole season I’ve been fighting that guy." pic.twitter.com/PQJemRrlUw
— Pedro Moura (@pedromoura) August 22, 2015
First of all, kudos to Grandal for doing his homework.
Second, the consistency of the strike zone is an issue that MLB needs to look at closely. Far too often it's a guessing game when the zone itself is supposed to be well defined.
Third and most importantly though, Fiers didn't need a lot of help on Friday. He was that good, and as many who were watching pointed out, the Dodgers did more to help Fiers than anyone else. Whether they were trying to be aggressive or not, they took some healthy hacks to swing over his dynamic curveball and through his high fastballs.
[On this week's StewPod: Angels pitcher Hector Santiago talks about his huge autograph collection.]
That doesn't dismiss Grandal's complaints entirely. There were definitely some wide strikes called that changed the flow of at-bats, but Fiers really had command of the game from the fourth inning on and there's little that could change it.
This is one of those situations where you're better off just tipping your cap to the pitcher for taking what was given and moving on to the next one. Otherwise, it just sounds like sour grapes.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813
- Sports & Recreation
- Baseball
- Yasmani Grandal
- Mike Fiers
- Los Angeles Dodgers
- John Tumpane
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