Umpires penalized for wrong ruling
NEW YORK — Major League Baseball suspended umpire Fieldin Culbreth for two games on Friday because he was in charge of the crew that allowed Astros manager Bo Porter to improperly switch relievers in the middle of an inning.
Culbreth and the rest of his crew — Brian O’Nora, Bill Welke and Adrian Johnson — were also fined an undisclosed amount, after MLB admitted its umps goofed for the second straight day.
“The rule covering pitching changes was not applied correctly by the umpiring crew,” MLB said in a statement.
Culbreth and his crew worked the Padres-Rays game in Tampa, Fla., on Friday night.
He told a pool reporter after the game that he takes “all the responsibility” for what happened.
As for the discipline?
“I look at it that baseball has high standards for their umpires and I have high standards for myself and I didn’t meet those standards last night, so I am absolutely OK with everything,” he said.
