New York Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo called his ejection in Thursday’s 9-6 loss at the Baltimore Orioles for arguing balls and strikes “frustrating.”
Rizzo was tossed in the eighth inning for arguing with home plate umpire Manny Gonzalez after a swinging strikeout.
During the at-bat, Rizzo was upset after two pitches he took were called strikes. From the dugout, he yelled “Same pitch!” to Gonzalez after a similar throw to next batter Giancarlo Stanton was called a ball.
“I feel like out of spite [Gonzalez] called the second one a strike just to prove that’s his strike zone,” Rizzo told reporters, according to NJ.com. “I’m sure the next time I see [Gonzalez] he’ll say, ‘Hey, they were down, and I got them wrong.'”
Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Rizzo’s ejection “was a little bit of a quick hook” and that “it didn’t rise to that level to me.”
Rizzo went 2-for-4 with two runs scored in the game.