Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Jake Bauers is taking the high road after an egregious missed call in Tuesday’s 6-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays.
The Brewers were leading 4-2 in the sixth inning when Bauers hit an infield single, but first base umpire C.B. Bucknor ruled him out because he hadn’t touched the bag. However, replay showed that Bauers clearly stepped on top of the bag, and the call was overturned after a challenge by Milwaukee. Brewers manager Pat Murphy and Rays manager Kevin Cash were seen sharing a laugh from across the diamond.
Bauers went on to steal second and score on a double hit by outfielder Brandon Lockridge. After the game, he chose not to criticize Bucknor for his missed call.
“I don’t know what happened,” Bauers said, passing up repeated opportunities to comment further on the missed call during his postgame interview with reporters, per the Associated Press. “I’m just thankful to get on base and thankful to come around and score.”
When asked if he was grateful that MLB has a replay system in place, Bauers replied with a laugh, “Yeah, grateful for that.”
Bucknor has been under the spotlight to start the 2026 season, as he hasn’t fared well under the league’s new Automated Ball-Strike System. While serving as the home plate umpire during the Cincinnati Reds’ 6-5, 11-inning win over the Boston Red Sox on Saturday, six of eight challenges of his calls were successful.
Human error is a part of baseball, but MLB’s replay and ABS systems are helping to avoid further mistakes like Bucknor made on Tuesday. Bucknor will try to avoid further mistakes when he serves as the home plate umpire for Wednesday’s series finale between the Brewers (4-1) and Rays (2-3).