Minnesota manager Rocco Baldelli lost it on home plate umpire John Bacon after he called Ryan Jeffers out in a crucial moment of the Twins’ 4-3 home loss to the Tigers in 11 innings on Thursday night.
Baldelli came storming out of the Twins’ dugout after Bacon ruled that Jeffers had fouled the ball into the glove of Tigers catcher Dillon Dingler for the first out of the bottom of the 11th.
Jeffers said it hit the ground, and Baldelli seemingly concurred as he came out of the dugout demanding that the umpire look at the play.
After a few moments, Baldelli started to lose it, yelling: “There’s no f–king way.”
“You f–ked it up, man. You f–ked it up!” Baldelli continued before Bacon had enough and tossed the Minnesota manager out of the game.
Baldelli then kicked dirt on home plate in anger before walking back over to Bacon to continue to give the ump a piece of his mind.
Bacon let Baldelli say his piece before a second umpire eventually got in between the two.
“That’s the whole game! It comes down to this f–king moment and you f–ked it,” he shouted before walking away.
Baldelli got one last shot in as he walked off the field by throwing his hat.
The ejection was his fourth of the season.
In the end, the Twins fell to the Tigers 4-3, with Minnesota stranding the tying run on third as Royce Lewis struck out on a check swing to close the game.
Baldelli told reporters that he didn’t think anyone in the stadium could say with any certainty that the ball didn’t hit the ground, and all he wanted was for Bacon to look at the ball.
“I don’t know why he wouldn’t just look at it,” Baldelli said.
“It would have given everyone in the ballpark, especially for the call, the best idea of whether or not that ball was truly fouled off or not, and it’s a huge moment.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
