Pete Crow-Armstrong Calls Out Umpires for 'Pretty Obvious' Missed Call in Cubs' Loss to D-Backs

The already chippy series between the Chicago Cubs and Arizona Diamondbacks added another layer on Wednesday night, only this time it was the umpires on the receiving end of Pete Crow-Armstrong's ire.

Speaking to reporters after the Cubs' 2-0 loss, Crow-Armstrong called out the umps for a "pretty obvious" missed call on an apparent balk by D-Backs starter Eduardo Rodriguez in the top of the sixth.

"I saw four umpires miss a pretty obvious play," he said. "They're out there every day, just like we are. Their one job is to get calls right, and if they get it wrong, they're supposed to talk about it, figure it out and get it right. And they didn't."

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The missed call occurred when Crow-Armstrong was on third base with two outs when he was getting a secondary lead off the bag. Rodriguez went into his wind up when his back leg came off the mound like he was trying to step off after catcher James McCann come out of his crouch for a pitch-out as he delivered the ball to the plate.

Crew chief Alfonso Márquez acknowledged after the game when the umps were able to review the footage that a balk should have been called.

"We just didn't see it," he said. "After looking at the video, it looked like [Rodriguez] stepped off."

Since the play isn't reviewable, the Cubs were unable to call for a challenge. The umps convened to discuss the play before deciding a balk did not occur.

Michael Busch walked later in the at-bat, but the inning ended when Rodriguez struck out Nico Hoerner to keep the scoreless tie intact.

If the balk had been called, Crow-Armstrong would have scored to put the Cubs ahead 1-0.

Arizona would take the lead in the bottom of the sixth on Jordan Lawlar's homer off Matthew Boyd to leadoff the frame. The Diamondbacks added a second run in the bottom of the eighth on Ryan Waldschmidt's sacrifice fly.

It's entirely possible the Cubs would have lost even if Crow-Armstrong had been awarded home, but a tie game in the later innings could have changed the pitching strategy for manager Craig Counsell.

Crow-Armstrong's outburst at the umps came two days after Diamondbacks pitcher Merrill Kelly lashed out at the Cubs when he accused third base coach Quintin Berry of stealing signs during Monday's 7-0 win for Chicago.

D-Backs manager Torey Lovullo formally apologized to the Cubs for the sign-stealing situation prior to Tuesday's game after receiving an explanation from MLB senior vice president of on-field operations Michael Hill.

Arizona took two out of three games in the series between NL wild card contenders. The Cubs (76-58) own the top wild card spot, though they have struggled recently with five losses in their last seven games.

The Diamondbacks (71-63) trail the San Diego Padres by one game for the third and final wild card spot in the NL. The NL West rivals play a three-game series in San Diego from Sept. 25-27 to close out the regular season.