A series of bizarre events in Thursday’s game between the Red Sox and Royals resulted in Boston manager Alex Cora being ejected from the game, apparently in the middle of a sentence by home plate umpire Bill Welke.
The trouble started in the bottom of the seventh inning, with the Red Sox trailing Kansas City 4-3 and two Royals on base. Catcher Salvador Pérez threw a line drive down the left-field line, where it appeared to graze the foul pole and bounce down the field of play.
Salvador Perez throws a THREE RUN FAST off the foul pole 🔥 #TogetherRoyal #DirtyWater #Royals #RedSox #MLB pic.twitter.com/M3j6A3mk2v
— Baseball Today (@dailymlbtweets) August 5, 2022
An umpires review resulted in the hit being ruled a home run, and the photographic evidence seems to support that decision (barely). With that, the Royals took a 7-3 lead, which ended up being the final score of the game.
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After the review, Cora seemed dissatisfied with the referees’ explanation of her ruling. As noted via Boston.com, the Red Sox broadcast on NESN reported that the team was unable to explain whether the ball was fair or foul, resulting in an argument between Cora and Welke.
What started out as a routine argument turned into a strange ejection: Welke clearly didn’t like something Cora said, even though the latter seemed perfectly calm in his conversation with the plate umpire. Cora, naturally, was shocked by the ejection and stayed on the field for several moments to argue.
Alex Cora gets kicked out for what appears to be light conversation pic.twitter.com/KP9SQEo7Cj
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) August 5, 2022
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Cora did not elaborate on the conversation she had with Welke.
“She was very calm asking what happened and whatever,” Cora said. “He kicked me out. It happens, I guess.
The Red Sox manager said afterward that he thought the ball was fair, but not a home run. He also did not blame the outcome of the game on the call. (Even if the ball had been ruled a double or triple, the Royals would have had a 6-3 or 5-3 lead; the result wouldn’t have changed either way, considering Boston didn’t score another run.)
“That didn’t decide the game,” Cora added. “We walked the ninth batter twice, he got on base three times. We have two lefties there that we have to do a better job. We have to be better. We can’t trust three or four guys. It’s a total team effort.”
With that, the Red Sox (53-54, last in the AL East) drop to 4-6 in their last 10 games and 1-2 since Tuesday’s trade deadline.
Source: www.sportingnews.com