Astros’ Cam Smith swung at strike three, then walked in a bizarre mishap

HOUSTON — ABS hasn’t eliminated the human aspect from Major League Baseball, a truth accentuated by an obvious mistake on Tuesday evening at Daikin Park.

Home-plate umpire and crew chief Mark Wegner appeared to lose monitor of the rely throughout a fifth-inning at-bat by Astros proper fielder Cam Smith, who labored a stroll regardless of whiffing at the primary three pitches he noticed from Boston Red Sox starter Brayan Bello.

After Smith swung by means of the third pitch, Wegner signaled solely a strike. Smith froze for a second in the batter’s field, however returned to proceed his plate look. Wegner held up his arms to indicate Bello an account that, based on the video, was incorrect.

HP Ump Mark Wegner misplaced monitor of the rely and it looks as if everybody else did too.

This ought to’ve been a strikeout for Brayan Bello. Instead Cam Smith walked. pic.twitter.com/32w4VXiRWZ

— Tyler Milliken (@tylermilliken_) April 1, 2026

Both MLB Gameday and Baseball Savant labeled Bello’s third pitch as a ball, although video confirmed Smith swinging and lacking. Catcher Connor Wong caught the pitch, too, eradicating any risk of a dropped foul tip.

Smith noticed six extra pitches. Red Sox supervisor Alex Cora eliminated Bello from the sport after Smith walked to first base.

Chaos erupted after Smith’s second swing and miss, which maybe impacted Wegner’s monitor of the rely. Astros left fielder Joey Loperfido broke for second base on the pitch — and Wong’s throw down sailed large of second baseman Marcelo Mayer.

Houston first baseman Christian Walker broke from third base to dwelling on the errant throw. Bello deflected Mayer’s throw dwelling, which allowed Walker to attain the sport’s sixth run.

Bello recovered to fireplace an 0-2 pitch that Smith swung straight by means of. No one appeared to note it was strike three.