Los Angeles Dodgers third base coach Dino Ebel was at the receiving end of criticism from the loyal fanbase after the team lost the series opener against the San Diego Padres 1-0 at Petco Park on Monday night. The incident that led to Ebel’s criticism occurred in the sixth inning, when he signaled the stop sign to Hyeseong Kim on an easy scoring opportunity that could have tied the game at 1-1.
In the top of the sixth inning, with Kim on first, Shohei Ohtani hit a swinging bunt as Kim ran to second. When the ball was thrown to first, it went past the Padres first baseman. Kim then quickly ran toward third and was about to head home, even as Padres OF Fernando Tatis Jr. momentarily mishandled the ball. Ebel stopped Kim, keeping the score 1-0 in favor of the Padres, who held that lead to win the series opener.
The Dodger nation was evidently angered by Ebel’s call that could have tied the game in the sixth for the visitors, and they expressed their reactions on social media.
“Another horrible call by Dino Ebel. He makes these a lot,” one fan commented.
“We’re going to lose because of Ebel, what a hack,” another fan commented.
“Get this dummy off third base. Boneheaded decision not to send him,” yet another fan commented.
Some other fans shared their reactions to Ebel’s controversial call. While one claimed he should, in the future, always let the runner continue to home plate, another exclaimed that, although the call was disastrous, the blame for the loss should be placed on the offense, who were literally owned by Michael King, Jason Adam, and finally Mason Miller.
“Bad call by Dino here. You have the fastest runner on the team , you have Tatis chasing the ball and has to come across his body to make that throw. It happens but if we go on to lose it’s not on Ebel , it’s on this offense,” one fan commented.
“He sends a runner that gets thrown out and everyone yells at him. Then he does this, and inevitably the runner doesn’t score and everyone yells at him. Lol IMO, he should err in favor of sending the runners, in most cases,” another fan commented.
“Ebel needs to know his runners. Kim has elite speed!” yet another fan commented.
The Dodgers Will Aim to Level the Series in Game 2
The incumbent World Series champions are currently 29-19 on the season, holding the second spot in the NL West, just 0.5 games behind the division-leading Padres. The Dodgers will aim to even the three-game series against San Diego on Tuesday to have a fighting chance of claiming an important intra-divisional series win on Wednesday.
After a thrilling pitching duel between King and Yoshinobu Yamamoto in game 1, San Diego will now start Griffin Canning (0-2) in the second game, facing the hot-off-the-press Emmet Sheehan, who is 3-1 for the season. The first pitch is scheduled for 5:40 pm PST and 8:40 pm EST on Tuesday.
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