Rays manager Kevin Cash was ejected for arguing with the third-base umpire during the third inning.
Kevin Cash was ejected in the third inning of Tuesday night’s loss to Kansas City. After Matt Andriese was called for a balk, Cash confronted the umpires about the call.
The balk allowed Jorge Bonifacio to score from third.
It was the sixth time Cash has been ejected as a manager. Third base umpire Bill Welke allowed Cash plenty of time to argue on behalf of his pitcher but once the skipper started pointing his finger in the face of Welke, he was tossed.
After the game the Rays skipper gave his opinion of the call that Welke made…
“It was an atrocious call, period.”
He commented on the veteran crew and how “ridiculous” the call was and that they didn’t know what they were doing. He is fully aware and understands that his comments will probably result in repercussions from the league.
Five times this year, prior to tonight, Andriese has been in the same situation. This was the first time that he had heard anything about the new rule.
Of the umpires, Cash said,
“It’s a terrible way to involve yourself and dictate the outcome of the game,”
Crew Chief Mike Everitt was very short and to the point when asked about the call.
“It was cut and dry.”
He even volunteered to read the rule directly out of the rule book.
Third base umpire Bill Welke said it was the first time that this crew had enforced the rule.
“He did not declare to the umpires that he would be working out of the windup so we assume he is pitching out of the stretch and he did not pause.”
When asked how many times the rule has been enforced, Everitt declined comment.
Andriese Outing:
It took Andriese four starts to record 15 strikeouts this season. In the fifth inning, Mike Moustakas became strikeout number 15 over his last two starts. The only earned runs Andriese allowed came on his final pitch of the night – a two-run home run off the bat of Salvador Perez. Andriese would settle for the no-decision after the bullpen was unable to keep the lead. It’s not unusual to see Andriese have early-season success like he is having right now. In 2016, he was flirting with a sub-3.00 ERA all the way into mid-August. His season-ending 4.37 ERA was largely due to a rough five-game stretch from August 13th to September 5th.
Before tonight’s game, Kevin Cash spent a little extra time with the media due to the lack of pregame batting practice. The skipper talked about Matt Andriese and his recent success…
“He goes about it kinda under the radar a little bit. What he doesn’t have is probably the big fastball that everybody attaches to, but the changeup has really played well, the ability to throw an early-strike curveball just to keep some hitters off-balance,”
Weeks Capitalizes on Opportunity:
Entering tonight’s contest, Rickie Weeks Jr. was batting .163 on the season. Rumors were swirling about how much longer he would be with the team. Cash gave the veteran an opportunity on Tuesday, starting him at DH, batting in the five-hole. He finished 2-for-5 on the night with a run scored. His average is now up to .185 on the season. Weeks Jr. and Evan Longoria were contributors in the Rays’ four-run first inning. An inning that saw Young throw 34 pitches.
#Royals Chris Young 2-2 career against #Rays. Longo and Weeks faced him the most (9 AB). Probably contributing to Cash starting Rickie at DH
— The Scrum Sports (@TheScrumSports) May 9, 2017
However, it was Logan Morrison that really got it going in the first inning.
Big Blast from Morrison:
Dewayne had a pretty good idea this was getting out. pic.twitter.com/O8GFZXiMWm
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) May 10, 2017
Up Next:
The nine-game home stand comes to an end on Thursday afternoon. On Wednesday night, these two teams match-up with Chris Archer (2-1; 3.57) going up against Jason Hammel (1-3; 5.53).
