Aaron Boone was ejected from Friday night’s New York Yankees-Detroit Tigers game after making contact with home plate umpire Nic Lentz in an argument about balls and strikes.
Tigers pitcher Jordan Zimmerman had a no-hitter going in the bottom of the fifth and got some help with a framed pitch by James McCann that led to a strike call. Already upset over his team’s lack of offense, the framed pitch called for a strike pushed Boone over the edge. He came out to argue the call and ended up getting into a catcher’s squat:
Aaron Boone, ejected and animated. #Yankees pic.twitter.com/EUhRQC3onQ
— Tom Hanslin (@tomhanslin) September 1, 2018
Lentz told Boone he had made contact with him, leading to the ejection:
Aaron Boone just got tossed. He bumped home plate umpire Nic Lentz's hat. Lentz calmly said, "That's contact." Then Boone went into a catcher's crouch behind the plate.
— Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) September 1, 2018
Though the no-hitter continued through the fifth, the Yankees broke through with a huge sixth. They smacked three home runs in the inning to take a 4-3 lead, so Boone’s tactics clearly paid off.
