Chris Bassitt was convinced he had breezed through a scoreless fifth inning on Monday night when he caught Dansby Swanson looking on a pitch at the knees, prompting Bassitt to begin his walk from the mound to the Mets dugout.
But home plate umpire Chad Fairchild held his stance, instead awarding Swanson a 3-2 count.
Swanson went on to walk, and Ronald Acuna Jr. was hit by a pitch to put two runners on, and suddenly, Bassitt was in a jam.
But Bassitt escaped, and even received an apology from Fairchild as he made his second walk toward the dugout in the inning.
Bassitt said he gave Fairchild an apology as well.
"I said I was sorry for showing him up," Bassitt said. "I thought that was strike three, but I've been wrong so many times, I was like 'Maybe I was wrong.' He said he was wrong, I said I was wrong, and that was it. Move on.
"Not that I showed him up, I knew it was a strike, but at the same time, I think umpires have one of the hardest jobs in the world, and I have no problem when an umpire misses a call. It happens. But especially when an umpire accepts that. What am I gonna say? It is what it is."
Pitchers rarely receive an apology from umpires in the moment, but Bassitt appreciated it, and it likely helped that no runs resulted in the missed call.
"I say all the time 'that was a strike' and I go back and look at it, and they're right, so I ain't gonna be mad at no umpire," Bassitt said. "I'll tell you that."
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