In a series of surprising events between the Red Sox and Royals on Thursday, Boston manager Alex Cora was ejected from the game, apparently by home plate umpire Bill Welk.
The affair began in the bottom of the seventh inning, with the Red Sox up 4-3 in Kansas City and two Royals on base. Catcher Salvador Perez fired a drive down the left sideline and appeared to be back on the field, bouncing off the broken post.
Salvador Perez launched a three-run blast from the foul pole#Royal together #Waste water #Royal #RedSox #MLB pic.twitter.com/M3j6A3mk2v
— Baseball Today (@dailymlbtweets) August 5, 2022
Umpire’s review ruled the hit a home run, and Photo evidence It seems to support that decision (barely). That gave the Colts a 7-3 lead, which ended up being the final score of the game.
MORE: Red Sox move to make trade deadline sensation as club fights for wild card
After the review, Cora seemed unsatisfied with the judges’ explanation. According to Boston.com, the Red Sox broadcast on NESN reported that the staff could not clarify whether the ball was fair or foul, resulting in a discussion between Cora and Welke.
What started as a normal conversation turned into a rare outburst: Welk clearly didn’t like what Cora had to say, even though the latter seemed perfectly calm during his conversation with the flat judge. Cora was naturally startled by the outburst and stayed on the field for several minutes to argue.
Alex Cora was fired with what seemed like a simple conversation pic.twitter.com/KP9SQEo7Cj
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) August 5, 2022
MORE: Eric Hosmer trade details: No-trade clause disrupts Juan Soto’s deal to Padres, sends first baseman to Red Sox
Cora did not elaborate on his conversation with Welke.
“I was relieved to know what happened and what happened,” Cora said. “Throw me out. I guess.”
The Red Sox manager said afterward that he thought the ball was fair, just not a home run. He did not blame the outcome of the game on the call. (Whether Ball had doubled or tripled, the Royals would have led 6-3 or 5-3; without Boston scoring another run, the score wouldn’t have changed either way).
“That didn’t decide the game,” Cora added. “We walked the hitter twice in the ninth, he got on base three times. We have two graphs that we need to do a better job of. We need to be better. We can’t rely on three or four guys. It’s a total team effort.”
With that, the Red Sox (53-54, last in the AL East) went 4-6 in their last 10 games, and 1-2 since Tuesday’s trade deadline.
