Nationals manager Dave Martinez uses photo evidence of ump's non-call that lost game

Ah, the old "out of the baseline" play that causes all sorts of controversy.

The case here: The Washington Nationals lost because catcher Keibert Ruiz threw to first to try to get Jake Meyers out, but the ball bounced off the Houston Astros' outfielder's helmet. The Astros scored, game over.

But Nationals manager Dave Martinez thought Meyers wasn't running on the baseline and should have been called out. So he printed out a photo to make his point to reporters.

“There it is right there,” Martinez said. “Take a look at it. Is that on the line? I don’t think so. I’m over this play. Seriously. They need to fix the rule. If this is what the umpire sees that he’s running down the line, I’m tired of it. I’m tired of it. Fix it. We lost the game, and he had nothing to say about it because he can’t make the right call. Brutal.”

Martinez said he was not given an explanation only that home plate umpire Jeremy Riggs saw Meyers run down the line.

“I think they were disputing whether he was in the baseline or not,” Houston manager Dusty Baker said. “That’s always a questionable call. Nobody really has the vantage point very good except really the home plate umpire, and he said it was nothing.”

Contributing: AP