Following a pivotal Game 3 loss in the National League Division Series Monday night, the Los Angeles Dodgers are on the brink of elimination and outfielder Matt Kamp had some choice words for veteran umpire Dale Scott.
Kemp, who got into a very heated argument with Scott late in the game, blasted the umpire following the Dodgers 3-1 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium.
"Terrible. Terrible strike zone," Kemp said afterward, according to ESPN. "I've never seen anything like it. That's disappointing because you've got guys out there battling. You know, this is two good teams going at it, and it's supposed to be the teams, not the umpire, and I just feel like the umpire took the bat out of our hands today. He had a very generous strike zone. It's hard to face good pitching when you've got a guy throwing a ball in the other batter's box, and it's called strikes."
Los Angeles struck out 10 times against St. Louis Monday and were held to just seven hits by John Lackey and two relievers.
Kemp went 0-for-4 and had two strikeouts in the loss, to see his numbers fall to 5-for-13 (.385) in the NLDS with a homer, two RBI and two strikeouts.
Dodgers manager Don Mattingly seemed to agree with his slugging outfielder.
"It puts you in a bind," the skipper said. "You keep giving pitches, changing counts. Obviously, you can't go too far with it, but real generous."
Kemp could be facing discipline from the league after he got in Scott's face following a strikeout to lead off the ninth inning, and he could very well face a fine for his reaction.
"You've got to be held accountable, man," Kemp said. "When we mess up and do bad things on the field, people talk about it. People get sent down when they play bad. I feel like when stuff like that happens, there should be some kind of punishment because it's unacceptable, man."
The Dodgers must now win two straight games -- one on the road and one at home -- in order to avoid being ousted by the Cardinals for the second straight postseason after falling to St. Louis in six games in the 2013 NLCS.
The series continues Tuesday with Game 4 at Busch Stadium as the Dodgers send ace Clayton Kershaw to the hill against Shelby Miller.
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