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Peoria had a connection at home plate in Houston Astros no-hitter over New York Yankees

dave eminian, journal star
·2 min read
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Rochester's Jimmy Kerrigan beats the throw ti Lehigh Valley catcher Matt McBride as home plate umpire Alex Tosi gets into position to make a call.
Rochester's Jimmy Kerrigan beats the throw ti Lehigh Valley catcher Matt McBride as home plate umpire Alex Tosi gets into position to make a call.

PEORIA — The combined no-hitter the Houston Astros threw against the New York Yankees on June 25 at Yankee Stadium had a Peoria connection right in the middle of it.

Or to be precise, behind home plate.

Peoria-born MLB umpire Alex Tosi was the home plate ump in that 3-0 game in which Astros starter Cristian Javier, backed by Hector Neris and Ryan Pressly, no-hit the Yankees.

An umpire rating service scored Tosi's net accuracy behind the plate in that game at 96.7%. His accuracy scores have been among the top 10 umpires in MLB this season.

Background: Dunlap graduate Alex Tosi makes his MLB umpiring debut

Tosi's season-long accuracy score is 94.5% — ninth-best among 94 MLB umpires rated by @UmpScorecards.

Tosi, 34, played baseball at Dunlap and pitched at Illinois Wesleyan. He worked his way through the minors as an umpire, spending four years at the Triple-A level. His MLB debut came on May 11, 2019, in a doubleheader between the Tigers and Twins in Minnesota.

Arizona Diamondbacks' Christian Walker, right, stares at umpire Alex Tosi after being called out on strikes during the third inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves Wednesday, June 1, 2022, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Arizona Diamondbacks' Christian Walker, right, stares at umpire Alex Tosi after being called out on strikes during the third inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves Wednesday, June 1, 2022, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Ask Dean: Why did the Peoria Chiefs move downtown?

Tosi was working in June on an MLB umpiring crew with Mike Muchlinski, John Libka and crew chief Todd Tichenor. It was the first big-league no-hitter Tosi worked from home plate. An analytics report from the game — tracking called pitches — said he was correct on 114 of 117 balls and 42 of 44 strikes.

Tosi has had 13 calls challenged by replay this season, with nine upheld, a rate of .692 that ranks fifth among 29 MLB umpires who've had at least 10 challenges. He followed up the no-hitter with a June 30 game in which he scored 99% accuracy in a 14-4 Philly win over Atlanta.

Dave Eminian is the Journal Star sports columnist, and covers Bradley men's basketball, the Rivermen and Chiefs. He writes the Cleve In The Eve sports column for pjstar.com. Reach him at 686-3206 or deminian@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @icetimecleve.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: MLB: Peoria-born umpire Alex Tosi calls Astros no-hitter vs Yankees