Wyatt Langford learns hard lesson with Angel Hernandez behind plate

(Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports)

HOUSTON — The Rangers had scored a run in the fourth inning Friday night and had Wyatt Langford up with the bases loaded.

The rookie then took five pitches outside of the strike zone.

The problem was that Angel Hernandez called three of them strikes.

Baseball’s most notorious umpire rung up Langford for a key out that changed the complexion of the inning and kept the Astros from running up the white flag in an eventual 12-8 Rangers victory.

Langford went 1 for 3 with an RBI single during the Rangers’ three-run sixth, and the designated hitter also walked and was hit by a pitch.

And he learned a valuable lesson.

“I should have known,” Langford said. “After he called the first one a strike, I should have swung at the next two.”

The pitches weren’t just barely off the plate. Each one was at least two balls outside, and pitcher J.P. France kept throwing them there. Manager Bruce Bochy scoffed when asked about the sequence.

** NEW UMPIRE AUDITOR RECORD **

Umpire Angel Hernandez rang up Wyatt Langford on three consecutive pitches out of the zone.

The strikeout pitch missed outside by 6.78 inches.

This was the largest miss on a called strikeout in Umpire Auditor history. pic.twitter.com/BWmizkDsmD

— Umpire Auditor (@UmpireAuditor) April 13, 2024

“I don’t know that one of them was a strike,” Bochy said. “I felt for Wyatt there.”

Langford attempted to be diplomatic when answering reporters’ questions.

“I would say they weren’t the best calls,” said Langford, who admitted that he voiced his thoughts to Hernandez. “I had a little to say to him. It was comical.”

Jeff Wilson, jeff@rangerstoday.com