<p>SEATTLE – Matthew Boyd is one of baseball’s best pickoff artists.</p><p>So why did his pickoff try Friday night get called a balk?</p><p>The <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/cubs" >Cubs</a> were wondering the same thing, with manager Craig Counsell in disagreement with home-plate umpire Brennan Miller to the point of getting ejected from his team’s extra-inning loss to the Mariners.</p><p>“It’s not a balk,” Counsell said after the game. “He hasn’t been called for a balk in seven years. He had one where it wasn’t a pickoff move, but he hasn’t been called for a balk in seven years.</p><p>“It’s a situation where the umpire got fooled and made up a call because he got fooled. It’s not a balk. Flat out. No other umpire is calling that a balk, hasn’t called it for seven years.”</p><p>Boyd picked 11 runners off last year, leading the major leagues and <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/cubs/2025/09/06/cubs-matthew-boyd-pickoff-record-craig-counsell-pete-crow-armstrong" >setting a new Cubs single-season franchise record</a>. He’s got four pickoffs this season, just two off the big league lead despite missing significant time with injuries.</p><p>Indeed, Boyd has been called for just one balk since he was called for four of them in 2019, coming in 2024 with the Guardians.</p><p>“He thought that I was going to the plate, to sum things up,” Boyd said. “That’s the same move I’ve done. That’s the first time that move has been called a balk since 2019, when Joe West called it front third base.”</p><p>The balk proved costly in the fifth inning.</p><p>With the Cubs down a run – they scored three times in the first inning, but Boyd allowed four runs in the second, including three on a Cal Raleigh home run – the leadoff man reached on a throwing error by Nico Hoerner, then advanced to second on the balk.</p><p>The runner moved to third when the next hitter grounded out, and he scored on a bloop single into shallow center field.</p><p>“Any run can make a difference in a game,” Boyd said. “Obviously, I would have loved to be better, would have loved to get a strikeout after [the balk]. The ground ball was after that, then the flare dropped in. It’s unfortunate.</p><p>“It’s more the Cal homer. The other ones are going to happen, the soft contact. The Cal homer, I could have done something better with. That’s a three-run mistake.</p><p>“When the boys put up three runs in the first, it’s a tough one to swallow.”</p><p>After a stellar run of starts following his return from the injured list in late June, things have been bumpier for Boyd of late. He gave up four earned runs and a season-high nine hits to the Dodgers at the beginning of the month, then seven runs and four homers in a dud against the Cardinals last weekend before allowing four earned runs Friday.</p><p>He’s allowed eight homers in his last four starts, during which he has a 6.12 ERA.</p><p>“You always want to avoid the big damage,” Boyd said. “[Big damage is] what happened tonight in that second inning, and it’s unfortunate.”</p>
IUSTITIA.BG – Investigations 2009-2026 2026-08-22 07:08:22
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