Joe Torre calls Giants' Brandon Belt after criticism of umpire

Joe Torre, Major League Baseball's Chief Baseball Officer, reached out to San Francisco Giants first baseman Brandon Belt on Friday to discuss critical comments Belt made about umpire Doug Eddings on Wednesday night, manager Bruce Bochy said.

Belt was upset with a game-ending called third strike by Eddings in Wednesday's 6-3 loss to the Cincinnati Reds. Belt said afterward that he thought the pitch was clearly outside and that Eddings called a strike because he was eager to end the game.

"It's tough, because you hope that an umpire doesn't affect a game like that. But he did, and I'm not sure if it was on purpose either," Belt said. "You've heard that guy multiple times insinuate he's trying to get through the game fast. And then he makes calls like that that I can't imagine that he really thought was a strike. You've got to wonder.

"I'm not here to talk bad about the umpires. You know, 99.9 percent of the umpires are great, and I actually enjoy talking to them. There's just some times when you have a feeling that one or two of them are trying to get the game over with, whether it's through what they say or what they do. And that just can't happen. You can't have those guys affecting careers and affecting games like that."

Bochy said the Giants did not expect Belt to face any further action from MLB for the comments.

Belt was held out of the starting lineup in Friday night's 6-1 loss to the Colorado Rockiesbecause of swelling in his knee, Bochy said. He came on as a pinch-hitter with two on in the seventh inning and struck out against Bryan Shaw.

Bochy himself was tossed from Thursday's extra-inning loss to the Rockies for arguing with umpire Chris Segal over a called strike on Brandon Crawford in the 12th inning.

"You're going to have times during the year where it's frustrating," Bochy said. "With what's happened the last couple days, it's part of the game to deal with. They're human. It is frustrating."