Bobby V blasts umpires after Sox loss

In the aftermath of his team's 4-3 loss to the Royals, Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine expressed dissatisfaction with the umpiring crew for its refusal to confer and discuss a pivotal play in the ninth inning in which a Marlon Byrd bunt attempt was ruled a foul ball rather than a hit by pitch. With runners on first and second and no outs, Byrd was trying to lay down a sacrifice. A Jonathan Broxton fastball tailed inside and appeared to hit Byrd.

Home plate umpire Jeff Nelson ruled that the ball hit the bat. Moreover, had Byrd offered at the pitch, even if it had hit his hand, it would have been interpreted as a foul ball, according to Nelson. Byrd and Valentine maintained that Byrd was pulling the bat back and that it hit him, in which case he would have been awarded first base to load the bases with no outs.

Valentine was miffed that Nelson refused to confer with the other umpires to make a determination about whether the ball was a foul ball or a hit by pitch, citing the fact that the umpiring crew got together to discuss a play in the first inning in which a ball that popped out of the glove of Cody Ross was ruled a double rather than an out.

"Guys battled their butts off, that’s all I know. That’s a damn shame. The [expletive] umpire can’t make a right call and get help to get it done," Valentine told reporters. "It’s a damn shame is what it is. Be stubborn. It’s not his job to call the frigging play. Just get help. It’s a damn shame is what that is. It’s a damn shame. And then they don’t want replay. If they can’t get it right, they should frigging ask for help. They asked for help on the one on the outfield, I think they got it right. Why the [expletive] is it so hard to do it at the end of the game if they can do it at the beginning of the game?"

For his part, Nelson told a pool reporter that he was comfortable enough with his foul ball determination that he did not think it necessary to confer.

"We usually don’t ask about a ball hitting a guy’s hand based on an umpire that’s 100 feet away," Nelson told the reporter. "You go on the best information that you have and also, if the batter had been offering at the pitch and the pitch had hit his hand, the result would be a strike and a dead ball. But my ruling was a foul ball."

For more Red Sox coverage visit weei.com/redsox.