Things went from tense to chaotic on Friday night in Dayton, Ohio.
Tensions bubbled over in the bottom of the ninth inning between the High-A Dayton Dragons and Lake County Captains, with four players ejected after a fiery benches-clearing incident — and more — in the wake of a controversial call on what appeared to be a hit by pitch.
The pandemonium all came with nobody out on a 3-2 offering from Lake County pitcher Donovan Zsak, who appeared to hit Dragons hitter Esmith Pineda on the elbow. Pineda immediately grabbed at his elbow guard and looked to be in pain, but home plate umpire Eli Cox signaled for the Reds prospect to stay in the batter’s box because he had ruled it was actually a foul ball, seemingly off the nob of the bat.
After Cox chatted with field umpire Brice McCormick, it was determined that it was a foul ball, which appeared to be the wrong call. That’s how Dayton manager Julio Morillo viewed it, as he got himself ejected after yelling at Cox. Morillo continued to get his money’s worth before finally leaving the field.
But the fun didn’t stop there.
Once play resumed, Zsak’s next full-count offering generated a swing and miss from Pineda for the first out of the frame. The lefty Guardians prospect was amped up, exulting in his punchout. But then the reliever began to walk toward home plate and near the Dragons’ third base dugout, which set off the home team. Dayton’s whole squad charged the field, leading the Captains to do the same from their bench.
When all was said and done after the two sides were restrained, Zsak and No. 1 Reds prospect Alfredo Duno, who got in the middle of the scuffle and was eventually pulled out of the pile, were tossed.
Things took another turn on the very next pitch from Lake County reliever Luis Flores, who replaced Zsak. Flores drilled Ascanio, and after a discussion between the umps, Flores — greeted with plenty of boos from the Day Air Ballpark crowd — was tossed for the fourth ejection of the half inning.
Logan McGuire entered for the final two outs, which came without any fanfare to end a 6-4 Lake County win.
Morilla, after the game, said he wasn’t “proud” of the benches-clearing incident but said it would have been hard for his players not to respond, given how the inning played out. He also added that he hopes the umpires see the error of their ways on the missed hit-by-pitch call.
“Obviously they make a big mistake, and I think they have to own that,” Morillo said after the game of the missed call, according to the Dayton Daily News. “It was a clear hit by pitch — can’t miss that … can’t miss that … both of them can’t miss that.”
“They can’t just rely on what the pitcher says after he hits somebody,” Morillo added. “I hope they go back and watch the video, and they gotta own that, they gotta know that they made a mistake.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
