SAN DIEGO — Less than a day later, as the Mariners prepared for the second game of their three-game series at Petco Park, they still weren’t sure that umpire Bill Miller’s balk call on Bryan Woo’s pickoff move in Tuesday night’s loss to the Padres was correct.

The call came in the second inning with Xander Bogaerts at first base and Gavin Sheets at the plate.

Seeing Bogaerts was well off the bag, Woo spun and fired quickly to Josh Naylor at first base, who put a late tag on Bogaerts as he got back without sliding.   

Miller immediately signaled for a balk. Thinking he might have a free out, Woo stormed off the mound to see why it was called. Miller told Woo to stay on the mound, but he kept going. Catcher Cal Raleigh hustled from behind the plate to keep his pitcher from getting thrown out of the game. Manager Dan Wilson wasn’t far behind him. He had a brief conversation with Miller.

Any player, coach or manager who argues a balk call is subject to an immediate ejection. But they are allowed to ask the reasons for the call. They just can’t vocalize their disagreement with those reasons.

During a somewhat strained conversation, Miller told Wilson that he called the balk because Naylor was positioned too far from the base when he caught the pickoff move.

Woo seemed displeased with the explanation.

“I understand what he was trying to say,” Woo said after Tuesday’s game. “I didn’t really think that the parameters in which he said that (Naylor) was too far off the bag for when I picked over. I understand the rule. But I just didn’t think (Naylor) was far enough off for it to equate to that. But that’s why I pitch and they umpire.”

Per rule 6.02 (a) of The Official Rules of Major League Baseball: The pitcher shall be charged with a balk if, while in contact with the rubber, he throws to a fielder who is either in front of or behind first or third base and obviously not making an attempt at retiring the runner at that base. However, there is no violation if the pitcher throws the ball directly to first or third base in this situation.

The Mariners felt that Woo was throwing directly to first base and that Naylor was making an attempt to retire the runner since he spun back for the tag. He doesn’t have to be touching the bag.

“I talked to him about it,” Naylor said postgame. “I didn’t think I was that far from the bag. I don’t usually say anything to umpires, but I wanted to know what he saw.”

Asked about it pregame Wednesday, Wilson didn’t want to engage on a lengthy discussion about it.

“The way that Bill described it to me was that he saw Nayls wasn’t close enough to make the tag, and that’s why he called it a balk,” Wilson said. “Beyond that, I don’t know what else you can say about it, but that’s how he was seeing it, and that’s why he called it.”

The Mariners didn’t buy the explanation and looked at an assortment of video angles following the game, believing that Miller had erred.

As infield coach Perry Hill was quick to point out — Naylor actually tagging Bogaerts on the play mitigates the rule.

“How can he be too far off if he tagged him?” Hill said.

There are some members of the Mariners that believe the Padres coaching staff asked the umpiring crew to watch Naylor’s positioning before the series. The Mariners’ recent pickoff of Jose Altuve at first base made all the highlight shows and was played endlessly on social media. In that move, Naylor retreats like there’s going to be a throw to first, pauses goes back toward the pitcher and then retreats again when Logan Gilbert, who gets a signal from Raleigh, fires to first.

The Mariners have picked off three players at first base this season.

Naylor is one of a growing number of first basemen — almost all left-handed throwers — who play a few feet in front of the bag instead of remaining in contact with the bag. It’s something that Hill teaches. It allows them to quickly tag the hip or torso of the base runner as they dive back into first quickly, which is deemed faster and easier than going for the hand in a small area.

What made the play look slightly awkward was that Naylor didn’t take the little step back as Woo fired to the first base bag. He stood and didn’t really move his feet except as he reached back for the tag on Bogaerts’ back.

“I’ve never seen that called before,” Wilson said.

But will it be called again?

Should the Mariners position Naylor differently to avoid future balks? Padres first baseman and former Mariner Ty France plays in the same spot with runners on first base.

“I know Nayls had a conversation with Bill, and they talked about it,” Wilson said. “He was able to get some clarification on it. I think we’ll make the necessary adjustments.”

Or as one Mariner put it, “We don’t need to adjust when we did nothing wrong.”