Astros’ Bregman rips umpires with profane rant

Houston Astros third baseman Alex Bregman responded with a string of expletives Wednesday when asked for his reaction to his sixth-inning triple, which was later overturned due to fan interference. In postgame remarks to reporters after his team’s 3-2 National League baseball loss to the Colorado Rockies, Bregman was pointedly critical of the decision, calling it “a (expletive) joke. They should be (expletive) ashamed of themselves,” Bregman said. “Obviously, the guy has never played (expletive) baseball before in his life, the guy in charge of whoever made that decision.” The play in question occurred with no outs in the top of the sixth and Houston nursing a 2-1 lead. Bregman hit a towering fly ball to left field and watched it ricochet off the side of the wall, bouncing just past the outstretched glove of Rockies left-fielder Gerardo Parra. Colorado manager Bud Black later challenged the play, and a video review showed an Astros fan reaching his mitt over the wall in an attempt to catch the ball. MLB rules state that if a fan “clearly prevents a fielder from catching a fly ball by reaching onto the field of play,” the batter will be ruled out. And that was the end result Wednesday night. Bregman argued that it was a difficult play and Parra, who was backtracking to pursue the ball, would not have absolutely caught the ball, regardless of whether or not the fan interfered.