DENVER -- Logan Verrett had just made what he thought was the biggest pitch of his game against Tony Wolters with one out and the bases loaded in the third inning of Saturday night's 7-4 loss the Rockies.
"I was pumped, because it was a big strikeout," Verrett said. "I knew I'd struck him out and I was waiting to get the ball back from Plawecki. Then the umpire started waving his arms immediately, and I was little caught off guard and didn't know what he saw."
Instead of a strikeout, home plate umpire Carlos Torres called a foul tip, and manager Terry Collins quickly stormed out to argue the call.
"He said he heard the foul tip," Collins said. "And you can't challenge it. You got nothing but to argue. He can [ask the other umpires for help], but they're not going to say anything. They don't know what he heard.
"I said if the hitter fouls the ball off, he's going to point to the point [of the foul ball] and say something. I said you couldn't have heard it, because he didn't foul it off."
Torres ejected Collins for the manager's first of the season, and the inning went south in a hurry.
The call gave Wolters a mulligan, which he made the most of, driving a ball to the center-field fence for a two-run double and later scoring when Charlie Blackmon hit a two-run single to cap a five-run third inning that made all the difference in the loss.
"I was blown away," Verrett said. "I think we all were. It was my job to pitch out of it and limit the damage, and I wasn't able to do that, which was unfortunate, but it happens."
Verrett was struggling before the call, and Collins already had Hansel Robles warming in the bullpen before the inning unraveled. After Wolters' two-run double, pitcher Eddie Butler grounded to first in a blown sacrifice attempt, and Varrett couldn't get around Blackmon.
"I left one over the plate to him, and another couple runs scored," Varrett said. "It's just really frustrating."
The players stopped short of blaming the loss on Torres, but the frustration was only enhanced by the fact that Wolters himself shared their opinion that the call was incorrect.
"I was shocked," said catcher Kevin Plawecki. "Wolters came back to the box and tells me, 'I didn't hit that ball.' He didn't have to tell me. I already knew. Everybody already knew. Everybody knew it in the ballpark."
After 5 1/3 scoreless innings from the bullpen and a valiant effort from the Mets' lineup to score three runs and climb back into the game, Collins was still steaming when the game ended in defeat.
"It doesn't matter," he said of his interaction with Torres. "It doesn't matter what I said. It doesn't matter what he heard. The call stood. You can't challenge it. It cost us the game. End of story."