With the Cubs trailing 4-2 against the Phillies with a runner on first in the top of the ninth Tuesday, Kemp took a 1-2 fastball from closer Hector Neris that was clearly up and away, but Foster rung him up for the first out of the inning. The location had a 0.0 percent chance of being called a strike based on the history of other pitches in the same spot, according to ESPN Stats & Info. The Cubs' rally attempt would fall short.
"First of all, Marty Foster is a really good fellow," Maddon said on the Laurence Holmes Show. "No. 2, Google or YouTube the time he called Ben Zobrist out on a strike three against Joe Nathan couple years ago that gave Joe Nathan his 300th save. That was even worse than last night. So, Marty can be an easy target. I don't want to go out there. I was yelling at him from the dugout. I'd been through that before with him, so there's history involved that I did not want to take to another level last night. I wanted to believe he knew he screwed up in the worst moment. And how about Tony, how well he handled that whole thing afterward? I give him credit, because he was much more civil than I could have possibly been. But Marty has had those moments before, and I've been involved in them. Again, there's a human thing involved in that, that I just backed off a little bit there. I think he knew how badly he'd screwed up."
You can listen to Maddon's full interview with Holmes below.