Programming decisions can sometimes mean a lose-lose for a network — and that was especially true for some baseball fans who were shocked to find the playoffs taking the back seat 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 – took a backseat to Fox Sports 1 on Wednesday night.
Instead of airing 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 timeslot.
Sports fans were outraged by the decision – given how big the two teams are – and took to social media to express their displeasure.
“I’m sorry, but the NLCS broadcast on FS1 while the Masked F*****g Singer airs on Fox is such a disgrace to MLB,” Sports Illustrated’s Jimmy Traina wrote.
Fans are outraged that Fox has put playoff baseball on the back burner in favor of The Masked Singer
“Let me get this straight: the NLCS with Shohei Ohtani is on FS1, while The Masked Singer of all things is on FOX? Is this what MLB has come to now?,” read another complaint.
Another read, “The #NLCS features a team from LA and a team from NY and airs on FS1, the same place you would normally find Indiana-Northwestern. It says a lot about baseball that FOX doesn’t think it will attract more traffic than Masked Singer.”
The game itself was a bit of a problem, as the Dodgers defeated the Mets 8-0 thanks to a strong pitching performance.
Los Angeles starter Walker Buehler gave up just three hits while striking out six in his start.
That was followed by a stellar bullpen performance from the group of Michael Kopech, Ryan Braiser, Blake Treinen and Ben Casparius – who combined to strike out nine Mets batters and give up just one hit.
Not only that, but the Dodgers had a great night with their bats – with home runs from Shohei Ohtani, Kike Hernandez and Max Muncy.
LA takes their 2-1 series lead tomorrow night in Game 4. Yoshinobu Yamamoto is expected to start for the Dodgers, while the Mets will be hoping for stronger material from Jose Quintana.