He whiffed at Strike 3 ... then walked? Inside a bizarre plate appearance

HOUSTON -- A strikeout and a walk in one plate appearance is something that’s not supposed to happen in baseball. Fortunately for Astros right fielder Cam Smith, only the walk counted.

Smith, while batting in the fifth inning of Tuesday’s 9-2 win over the Red Sox at Daikin Park, swung and missed at three consecutive pitches from Boston starter Brayan Bello but wasn’t called out by plate umpire Mark Wegner. Smith wound up staying in the batter’s box after strike three and drew a walk during Houston’s three-run fifth inning, though he didn’t score.

Smith said he looked at the scoreboard after swinging at the second pitch and saw a 1-1 count. There was some chaos immediately after that pitch when Joey Loperfido stole second, with Christian Walker scoring from third on a throwing error. Loperfido took third on another throwing error.

“Honestly I had no idea,” Smith said. “I lost track because of that throw down to second base. I lost track and then I looked at the board and it said, 1-1, and said, ‘All right, next pitch.’ Seriously, I had no idea until I came back into the dugout.”

Wegner signaled it was a 1-2 count with his hands after Smith swung and missed at the third pitch. Speaking to a pool reporter, Wegner said he wasn’t aware Smith had struck out until he watched the video postgame.

Smith then faced six more pitches, alternating a foul ball with a ball until he walked on the ninth pitch of the plate appearance.

“I didn't know what happened until I came in here and apparently I somehow didn't count the second swinging one because I said the count was 1-2,” Wegner said. “It was actually strike three. Had anybody caught it, we can always go and call replay and check the count. I've never done that before. I'm not happy about it. Just made a mistake."