SAN DIEGO — Cincinnati Reds shortstop Matt McLain challenged three pitches in his eighth-inning plate appearance and won all three for a two-out walk Monday night in the Reds’ 6-2 loss to the San Diego Padres.“That’s kind of what it’s for,” McLain said of the system. “I was glad it’s there because if it wasn’t there, I’m walking back to the dugout.”McLain, who had already had two hits on the night, came to the plate against Padres right-hander Jason Adam. Batting in the seventh spot in the lineup, McLain challenged the 1-0 pitch from Adam that was called a strike by home-plate umpire Lance Barrett. The Automated Ball-Strike system showed Adam’s slider was low.The next pitch, another slider, was initially called a ball by Barrett, and McLain tapped his helmet again. Again, the call was overturned.After a 3-0 fastball for an unchallenged called strike, Adam again came with a slider that Barrett called a strike. McLain, who had tossed his bat toward the Reds’ dugout before Barrett made his strike call, again tapped his helmet to signal for a challenge. ABS showed the pitch was low for ball four.
“They were really similar pitches, like the height of them all was very similar, so I was pretty confident in all of them,” McLain said.
