It began like any other tense moment at the ballpark—lights buzzing, crowd roaring louder, and that undercurrent of drama that clings to every tightly contested inning. But beneath the surface of a high-scoring thriller, whispers began to swirl. Something didn’t sit right. What unfolded across ten innings wasn’t just a battle between the Dodgers and the Cubs—it became a referendum on dignity. While the final score spelled heartbreak for the Dodgers, the postgame narrative told a messier story. Because when the dust settled, the loudest voice wasn’t from the field, it was from the fans.

So, what sparked the fire in the game that the Los Angeles Dodgers didn’t win? The controversy centered on one name: Paul Clemons. The umpire called balls and strikes during Tuesday’s game, a 10-inning thriller that ended in an 11–10 Cubs victory. Yet it wasn’t the walk-off hit or bullpen struggles that dominated postgame analysis, it was the strike zone.

Let’s break it down. Clemons logged a 95 percent accuracy rate, 170 of 179 taken pitches. That doesn’t sound scandalous until you see the 0.63-run favor for the Dodgers. Dig deeper, and you’ll find a 0.52-run advantage for Los Angeles, while the Cubs saw a -0.11-run effect. That’s a swing that matters.

Adding fuel to the fire were clutch-time missed calls. For instance, in the top of the 7th, with two on and nobody out, Clemons ruled a clear strike on Mookie Betts. The 3-1 count led to a walk, inflating the Dodgers’ scoring threat. That single pitch altered the run expectancy. Then came the bottom of the 5th. In that a 3-2 pitch to the Cubs batter, Gage Workman, was called a strike, ending the inning instead of extending a potential rally.

Here’ the kicker. UmpScorecards revealed Clemsons’ called strike accuracy at 92 percent, just a little more than the MLB average, but included four clear strikes called as balls. While five called balls mistakenly fell inside the rulebook strike zone (EUZ), it was the situational impact that ignited fan backlash. Suddenly, the narrative flipped. In defeat, the Dodgers were framed as the beneficiaries rather than the victims—a sting for the winning team’s supporters.

What made this worse was Clemons’ 2025 trendline. His average favor this season sits at +0.35. Three of his last five games featured swings exceeding 0.5 runs, including a 1.98-run disparity against Detroit and Kansas City and 0.56 against Boston. This isn’t noise—it’s a pattern.

So while the Cubs won, the headline was hijacked by zone charts. In a game riddled with blunders, the umpire’s performance left the deepest mark. If Cubs fans argue the scoreboard didn’t tell the whole story—they might be right.

Fans don’t miss a thing

Tuesday night’s marathon lit up the world of social media with intensity. Let’s break down the reactions.

One fan highlighted the brutal irony: “richest team ever assembled, rigged and still lost is crazy work.”  This jab at the Dodgers’ $300M payroll and their reliance on questionable calls cut deep. When a top-five offensive WAR team needs help yet still falls short, it’s not just frustrating—it’s embarrassing for opponents.

Then came a damning take: “even as a Dodger fan I could see the inconsistency and favoritism from this ump”. That says it all. Neutral fans could cry foul, however, when your own fan highlights the biases, the argument gains weight. Data backs this: Clemons’ called strike accuracy could have been 92 percent, but it decreased below average during the period of late-inning force counts. In the 8th and 9th innings, the umpire’s accuracy decreased to almost 89.1 percent. Timing matters—and these mistakes came when it hurt most.

Another fan said, “What is new, Dodgers favored and still can not win”. This taps into a growing sentiment: even with help, they’re fallible. It’s worth noting that umpire-assisted wins aren’t new. In 2024, MLB fans were left furious at the performance of Carlos Torres after the umpire missed 14 calls during the 2024 World Series, which fueled accusations of a tainted Dodgers title.

Some reactions didn’t need deep thought. One fan just said, “atrocious”. The tone could be short, however, the implications run deep. Fans were not just frustrated with the missed calls, they were surprised by the effect. In moments with runners in scoring place, Clemons’ decision deviated from the zone 14 percent more than his season average, and such data matters. Humans can make mistakes, but when those mistakes negatively affect game-altering situations, fans lose faith in the authority.

The sharpest critique came from a fan who noted, “would squeeze the Cubs one half inning and then immediately give the Dodgers every call in the next half”. Such rollercoaster officiating is what truly makes the online world ablaze. In innings 5 through 7, when the winning team was clawing back, the umpire’s strike zone tightened on the Cubs while loosening for the Dodgers. The Cubs’ hitters saw an enhancement in low-zone strike calls by six percent. However, the Dodgers benefited from extended strike zones. This kind of inning-to-inning fluctuation does not just throw off stars—it throws off the synchronization of the game.

This wasn’t just a tough game—it was a pressure cooker of analytics, inconsistencies, and a fanbase armed with real-time data. Whether Clemons’ zone was intentionally skewed and merely poorly timed, one thing is clear: fans aren’t blind. If MLB doesn’t address this scrutiny, games like this won’t just spark debate—they’ll erode the sport’s integrity.