Twice in the last two days a major league players were called out on swinging strikes even though the pitches actually hit them.
It is not unheard of to see a player try to check their swing when they realize the pitch has a better chance of hitting them than it does of being near the strikezone. But it is rare that the umpire will rule that the batter swung. It is even more rare for that to happen on a third strike for the out. And it is unheard of to see that happen twice in a span of 24 hours.
But that is exactly what happened to both Brandon Phillips of the Reds and Erick Aybar of the Angels...