Despite back-to-back wins against the most successful team in the MLB, one moment during Saturday’s game became a focal point of frustration for the Brewers fans. And once again, an umpire’s decision took the center stage, which triggered the Milwaukee manager to exit the dugout and have a bitter exchange.
Manager Pat Murphy tried to challenge a play at second base, but third base umpire Alan Porter ruled against it on May 9.
The Brewers hosted the Yankees in Saturday’s second game of the series. Luis Rengifo made it to first base when they were up by 2-0 at the bottom of the 5th. Garrett Mitchell came to hit with just one out in the inning. He grounded a 94-mph cutter from the Yankees starter Cam Schlittler toward third base. Amed Rosario made a nice pick and throw, resulting in Rengifo’s out at second base.
However, the Brewers dugout suspected that Rengifo made it to the bag before the out was made. Murphy put up his hand to signal the umpire that they are reviewing the play for a probable challenge. He was soon tapping his cap, but Porter ruled it out, indicating the time was over.
According to the MLB rules, “once the manager alerts the umpire to a potential challenge, the umpire will initiate a 15-second timer.”
If he fails to decide by the time the timer runs out, he will be denied a challenge. However, many fans are pointing out that Murphy touched his cap well before the dedicated time limit. And that’s what triggered a conversation that went heavily sideways, resulting in calling Alan Porter biased.
Brewers manager Pat Murphy tried to challenge this play at second but third base umpire Alan Porter ruled he took too long to decide pic.twitter.com/6F2J6asnF6
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) May 10, 2026
As soon as the challenge was denied, Murphy was seen rushing out of the dugout. He had a minute-long conversation but failed to convince the umpire. He looked dejected as Porter stuck to his decision, and we heard loud boos in the American Family Field.
Notably, there were some counterarguments as well. Some fans claimed that they “felt it was way too long watching it live.” However, that is a matter of perspective. And we all know how the clock feels stuck when we are waiting for something.
Unfortunately, the biggest problem in such a situation is that MLB doesn’t have a timer for the manager’s call. The 15-second pitch clock helps both the players and umpires to come to a conclusion with ease. Since that isn’t the case here, teams and their fans can easily accuse an umpire of being incorrect.
Fans smell favoritism after botched decision against the manager’s challenge
“If you stopwatch it, it’s only 12 seconds. The rule is 15 seconds. If I’m Murphy, I’d be heated too. He clearly says, “I get 15 seconds!” Whack,” a fan commented on a replay shared by Jomboy Media.
Now, whether you go through the highlights shared by MLB or any clips uploaded by a third party, you will observe the same thing. Pat Murphy took around 11-12 seconds to touch his cap after he held up his hand. According to the rules, the clock starts after the manager signals the umpire. That’s what made the manager have an argument with Porter. And it eventually led to fan frustration.
“Umps mad they can’t control the strike zone so now they are gonna show out with everything else,” another user accused them of unprofessionalism.
Since the inclusion of the ABS Challenge System, the umpires have received a lot of backlash over missed and overturned calls. As of May 10, a total of 1,287 calls out of 2,419 have been overturned. The number of missed calls is way above that.
Fans believe that, since the ABS is detecting their incorrect calls, umpires are trying to misuse their authority in other aspects of the game. However, it seems like an oversimplification and incorrect explanation of a mistake from an umpire. Porter has a 93.6% accuracy and 93.8% consistency this season.
“Brewer fan here. No clue who’s right. But I actually give the ump credit for NOT running Murph right there,” a fan took a dig while praising Porter’s controlled demeanor. ”So many have such a quick hook these days. High emotion…figure it out…back to work. Nicely done,”
A fan sitting behind the dugout yelled at Hunter Wendelstedt, and he took it out on Boone. “I don’t care who said it. You’re gone!” Wendelstedt said to Boone after he protested.
Here, the Brewers fan is a little bit relieved that Murphy was not ejected after spending almost a minute on the field. And it was surprising coming from Porter, who ejected Alex Cora twice and handed Aaron Judge his first ejection.
Some fans, however, think there is more to the decision. “I guess we know who that ump had money on!” one fan wrote.
The Yankees had a shutout defeat in the first game. And the Brewers were already leading with 2 runs, with New York without a score at the moment of this controversy. They think the umpire was trying to help the Yankees to level the game.
However, Alan Porter is one of the most dependable umpires in MLB. He has often recorded 94-95% accuracy while many other umpires are struggling to get above 93. MLB has put faith in Porter for many high-profile games and postseason game 5s to accuse him of such partiality.
“Another umpire with error fatigue leading to ego,” read another comment. Error fatigue isn’t uncommon in sports, especially the ones that go on for long hours. Alan Porter had 4 calls challenged by ABS and 2 of them were overturned.
However, fans accuse him of making two mistakes in the same play. First, he made an incorrect call on Rengifo, who had reached the bag before the out happened. Then, he denied the manager the right to challenge the play.
Both these mistakes went against the Brewers, which is the main source of the bias accusation. However, the noise died down a bit after the game as Milwaukee made it 4-3 in the 10th inning. And the Brewers fans probably saw it as vindication when Renfigo scored from third base after William Contreras hit a sacrifice fly.
