Alex Cora Ejected from Game 1 of ALCS for Arguing with Home-Plate Umpire
October 14, 2018
Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora was ejected from Game 1 of the American League Championship Series on Saturday night at Fenway Park in Boston, Mark Berman of Fox 26 in Houston reported.
Cora was arguing a called third strike on Red Sox left fielder Andrew Benintendi. The Boston Globe's Pete Abraham showed the pitch was just outside the strike zone:
Benintendi's strikeout came at an important moment in the game. The Red Sox had just scored the second of two runs in the inning and had runners on second and third. Had the pitch been called a ball, Boston would've had the bases loaded with two outs and J.D. Martinez at the plate.
Regardless of whether Cora had a case, his ejection was inevitable when he approached the plate. MLB umpires are directed to give any manager the hook when he argues balls and strikes at home plate.
Umpiring has been a minor subplot throughout the 2018 postseason. New York Yankees starting pitcher CC Sabathia called Angel Hernandez "absolutely terrible" after Hernandez was the home-plate umpire during Game 4 of the American League Division Series.
