Astros player swings and misses at three pitches, walks on ball three as everyone forgets the count

Astros' Smith walks despite three swinging strikes on umpire error

Houston Astros right fielder Cam Smith reached base on a walk Tuesday after swinging and missing three pitches, when umpire Mark Wegner lost track of the count. Smith whiffed on the first pitch for 0-1, then missed a second swing as Boston Red Sox catcher Connor Wong's throwing error on a stolen base attempt allowed a run from third. Wegner failed to call the third swinging strike, treating the count as 1-2 instead of 0-2.

Smith then fouled off a pitch, took a ball, fouled another, saw another ball and fouled one more before walking on the next pitch, which became ball three in the umpire's miscount. The plate appearance occurred at Daikin Park in Houston during a game against the Red Sox. Red Sox pitcher Brayan Bello asked the umpire about the count, and Wegner later reviewed video and acknowledged the error.

Wegner told reporters he missed the second swinging strike, calling the count 1-2 erroneously when it was strike three. Such counting failures have occurred at least 35 times in MLB history, according to a video series that cataloged them five years ago, with most in the 21st century. Red Sox manager Alex Cora showed no awareness of the miscount in postgame comments.

The Astros won 9-2, rendering the walk inconsequential to the outcome.