Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora was ejected on Saturday night from Game 1 of the American League Championship Series (ALCS) against the Houston Astros at Fenway Park for arguing balls and strikes.
Cora was tossed by plate umpire James Hoye after Andrew Benintendi was called out on strikes with the potential go-ahead runs on second and third base and two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Bench coach Ron Roenicke took over for the Red Sox, who went on to lose 7-2.
Photo: AFP
On a 3-2 count, Benintendi was rung up on a borderline pitch low and away. He slammed his shin guard, bat and helmet and had words with Hoye after the call. Cora then stepped in and had words with Hoye, resulting in the manager’s ejection.
“I guess Verlander executed his pitch, and he called it a strike,” Cora said after the game. “Andrew didn’t agree. I didn’t agree. It’s a big pitch right there. It’s ball four and bases loaded.”
“But you can’t argue balls and strikes — and I did,” Cora added. “It’s kind of like embarrassing that it happens in the playoffs. That wasn’t cool watching the game in the clubhouse. I got a job to do and manage the team in the dugout.”
Cora, in his first year as a manager, had been ejected just once during the regular season.
“I gotta do what I gotta do for my players,” he said. “We didn’t agree that the pitch was a strike. He did. You can’t argue balls and strikes, and he threw me out. If you feel I overreacted, so be it. But from my end, I don’t think I did.”
During Benintendi’s at-bat, a wild pitch by Astros ace Verlander allowed Jackie Bradley Jr to score from third, tying it at 2. Houston regained the lead in the top of the sixth on a Carlos Correa single and added four runs in the ninth to put the game away.
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