BAY AREA BASEBALL Belt calls out umpire after 6-3 loss to Reds

SAN FRANCISCO – The Giants made enough of their own mistakes to contribute to a 6-3 loss to the Cincinnati Reds Wednesday, but Brandon Belt was more concerned with the brevity of home plate umpire Doug Eddings.

With Brandon Crawford on first base, two outs and a full count against closer Raisel Iglesias, Belt was rung up by Eddings on a full count to end the game.

And the end of the game was precisely what Belt believes Eddings had in mind.

“It’s tough, because you hope that an umpire doesn’t affect a game like that, but he did,” Belt said. “I’m not sure if it was on purpose, either. We’ve heard that guy insinuate multiple times that he’s trying to get through the game fast. Then he makes calls like that, that I can’t imagine that he thought was a strike. You’ve got to wonder.”

Asked if Eddings has made those statements as a joke, Belt said, “I don’t know, but if you say it enough, you start to believe it. I’m not sure if that’s connected, but if you don’t want it to be, then don’t say it.”

Belt, who could face a fine from Major League Baseball, said Eddings has made remarks about speeding up games “multiple times, on multiple days,” including Wednesday.

When Belt struck out, the Giants lost an opportunity for Evan Longoria to come to the plate as the trying run.

Belt had already homered in

Bay Area News Group/tns Cincinnati Reds second baseman Scooter Gennett forces out the San Francisco Giants’ Brandon Belt out during the fifth inning of Wednesday’s game in San Francisco. The Reds won 6-3.

the third inning, his ninth of the season, and later drove a single off the fence in right field.

In the end, the Giants never recovered from a four-run first-inning against left-hander Andrew Suarez, who saw the first four

Reds cross the plate. Jose Peraza opened with a single, followed by a ground rule double by Scooter Gennett. Joey Votto singled in Peraza, and Adam Duvall launched a three-run home run to left.