SEATTLE -- Once to set the stage: Not a soul in the Pirates' clubhouse blamed umpiring for their pathetic offensive performance -- two hits, 17 strikeouts -- in being blanked by Luis Castillo and the Mariners, 5-0, on this Saturday afternoon at T-Mobile Park.
Twice for emphasis: They credited Castillo and blamed themselves.
Now that I've got that clear, independent of what's above, they were beyond livid with home plate umpire Ryan Blakney for an absolutely embarrassing third-strike call on Ke'Bryan Hayes that ended the game:
Oh, for real:

MLB.com
That's either malicious or malpractice.
And there's a good reason Hayes gave Blakney an earful before leaving the box, just as there's a good reason several other Pirates did likewise as he had to pass their dugout on the way to the umpires' room: It's never healthy, for a team or for baseball in general, to allow something like that to occur without piping up.
"F---ing terrible," one member of the coaching staff called it.
"That's not OK," one injured player on the trip told me.
Another player pointed out that, from watching Blakney's work in the final couple of innings, they knew that last pitch would be called a strike "right out of the hand" of pitcher Justin Topa no matter where it'd wind up. And that they overheard Blakney claiming, "It was right there."
There's rarely a benefit to going on the record over such a subject because the umpiring circle will inevitably find out and, all too often, carry a grudge into calls. But I did get Hayes to say this much upon asking if it'll take time for the younger Pirates to earn their ball/strike calls:
"It should be the same for everyone," he'd reply. "Everyone's up there trying to do the same thing, so I don't feel like anyone should have to earn it. The strike zone is the strike zone, and I feel like they need to be better back there."
Or they need to be machines.
All I've got to add: Robot. Umps. Now.