Programming decisions can sometimes be a lose-lose for a network – and that was especially the case for some baseball fans who were shocked to find that the playoffs took a backseat to a singing show.
Game 3 of the National League Championship Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Mets – two of the richest teams in baseball – was given the backseat and put on Fox Sports 1 on Wednesday night.
Instead of broadcasting the baseball on Fox – the main channel for those without cable access – the network decided to put an episode of ‘The Masked Singer’ in the same time slot.
Sports fans were outraged by the decision – considering how big the two teams are – and took to social media to express their displeasure.
‘I’m sorry, but he NLCS airing on FS1 while the Masked F*****g Singer airs on Fox is such an embarrassment for MLB,’ wrote Sports Illustrated’s Jimmy Traina.
Fans are outraged as Fox put playoff baseball on the back burner in favor of The Masked Singer
‘Let me get this straight, the NLCS featuring Shohei Ohtani is on FS1 while The Masked Singer of all things is on FOX? This is what MLB has come to now?,’ read another complaint.
Another read, ‘The #NLCS features a team from LA and a team from NY and it’s airing on FS1, the same place you’d usually find Indiana-Northwestern. Says a lot about baseball that FOX doesn’t think it would draw a bigger number than Masked Singer.’
The game itself was a bit of a snore as the Dodgers blanked the Mets 8-0 thanks to a strong pitching performance.
Los Angeles starter Walker Buehler only gave up three hits while striking out six in his start.
That was followed up by a great bullpen performance from the group of Michael Kopech, Ryan Braiser, Blake Treinen, and Ben Casparius – who combined to strike out nine Mets batters and only gave up one hit.
Not only that, but the Dodgers had a great night from their bats as well – with home runs from Shohei Ohtani, Kike Hernandez, and Max Muncy.
LA takes their 2-1 series lead into tomorrow night’s Game 4. Yoshinobu Yamamoto is expected to start for the Dodgers while the Mets will hope for stronger stuff out of Jose Quintana.