Cleveland Indians shortstop Mike Aviles was ejected on Tuesday night, but he wasn’t tossed until after the game had already ended. Go figure.
Aviles was the last out for the Indians in their 4-3 loss to the New York Yankees. The whole thing began with the first pitch of Aviles’ at-bat against closer Mariano Rivera.
Rivera threw a high pitch that Aviles took a check swing on but held up. Catcher Chris Stewart wasn’t able to hold onto the ball, so it went to the backstop. It initially looked like the pitch would be called a ball, but home plate umpire Tony Randazzo said Aviles foul-tipped the pitch, leading Stewart to miss the ball. He called it a strike.
Aviles complained, while manager Terry Francona came out to argue the call. They were unsuccessful in their efforts.
Aviles took the next pitch for a ball, and then he flew out to right field on a 1-1 pitch for the final out of the game. As Aviles was clearing off the field, he went over to say something to Randazzo, who threw him out … even though the game had already ended. Aviles had also argued a called third strike earlier in the game.
Francona felt Randazzo was in the wrong.
“We’re down one, facing the best closer in the history of the game,” Francona said after the game, via the Cleveland Plain Dealer. “He doesn’t need any help. You can get emotional sometimes and I just thought at that point Tony should have kept walking or either apologized to Mike, but everybody makes mistakes …”
I’m guessing Randazzo running Aviles was just a pure reaction, because he probably wouldn’t have bothered had he realized that the game ended.
H/T Jimmy Traina
