C.B. Bucknor baffled the Red Sox and the Reds with the worst game of the ABS era

As we all know, C.B. Bucknor is one of the worst umpires in Major League Baseball, if not the worst of them all. And his game yesterday (Saturday) between the Boston Red Sox and the Cincinnati Reds was no exception.

In fact, Bucknor made several bad calls, and eight of them were challenged. And it could have been worse, since unfortunately for the Red Sox, who lost 6-5, they challenged two calls that were upheld early in the game, leaving them powerless as Bucknor continued to prove his incompetence throughout the game.

Meanwhile, the Reds managed to get a total of five called strikes overturned in just the sixth and seventh innings, including two in a row during Bucknor's attempt to strike out Eugenio Suarez on two consecutive contested pitches.

CB Bucknor called out Eugenio Suarez twice and was wrong on back-to-back pitches. He's been horrendous all day.

Also, great range from Marcelo Mayer throwing from shortstop. pic.twitter.com/qQ6dATvLb3

— Tyler Milliken (@tylermilliken_) March 28, 2026

And to add insult to injury, the worst call of the day didn't even involve a challenge, as Bucknor called out Trevor Story in the top of the seventh inning, claiming he had broken his stride. Bucknor didn't consult the first-base umpire, who likely saw that Story had held his stride. It wasn't even close.

Then, to assert his authority—which almost no one respects anymore—and to cover up his mistake, Bucknor ejected Sox manager Alex Cora.

Alex Cora was ejected by CB Bucknor for arguing this check swing call on Trevor Story.

Bucknor did not appeal to the first base umpire on the check swing, and he has already had several calls overturned on ABS challenges in today's game pic.twitter.com/Wh698UTgnl

— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) March 28, 2026

As Reds commentator Sam LeCure noted, we're not done with him yet.

I'm not loving this right now, but with home plate umpire C.B. Bucknor, we're likely to see some records set.

Bucknor is almost certainly in for a very tough season, given his history of calling a wide strike zone. Now, teams will be able to challenge his poor judgment.

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