Chris Sale, the pitcher for the Atlanta Braves, faced an ejection from umpire Dan Merzel at the start of Sunday’s game against the New York Yankees. This incident occurred right before any pitches were thrown, following a balk call from the previous day that allowed a run to score.
As the umpiring crew approached the Braves’ dugout, Sale voiced his displeasure, leading to Merzel ejecting him. Sale had a brief exchange with crew chief Dan Bellino near the dugout rail.
Sale was called for a balk during the fifth inning of Saturday’s game, resulting in the rookie Spencer Jones scoring a run.
In the aftermath, Sale expressed strong dissatisfaction with Merzel’s decision, and manager Walt Weiss also got involved in the dispute, which resulted in his ejection.
According to Bellino, Sale was penalized for not declaring his intention to pitch from the windup. Sale had made this declaration earlier when he struck out José Caballero but failed to do the same for the at-bat against Austin Wells.
This marks Sale’s fourth career ejection, with the most recent prior incident on August 3, 2019, when Mike Estabrook threw him out for disputing balls and strikes. At that time, he played for Boston in a game against the Yankees.
In Saturday’s game, Sale allowed three runs and five hits over six innings, suffering his first defeat since June 28. In his third season with the Braves, he holds a 12-7 record with a 2.20 ERA over 21 starts.
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