Counsell ejected after arguing ump's ruling on stolen-base call

NEW YORK -- In Tuesday’s 9-6 victory over the Mets at Citi Field, the Cubs were involved in a strange play that saw manager Craig Counsell get ejected from the game.

With Mets right-hander Tobias Myers on the mound in the top of the seventh inning, Pete Crow-Armstrong led off with a walk. Michael Busch drew one himself two batters later, during which Crow-Armstrong attempted to steal second base on the 3-2 slider that went for ball four. Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez threw to shortstop Bo Bichette, who kept the tag on Crow-Armstrong throughout his slide. But second-base umpire Stu Scheurwater called Crow-Armstrong safe to put runners on first and second.

However, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza challenged the call on the field. After viewing all relevant angles, the replay official determined that Crow-Armstrong touched and subsequently lost contact with second base as Bichette was applying the tag. Scheurwater’s call was overturned.

According to Rule 5.09(b)(6), “Runner on first and three balls on batter: Runner steals on the next pitch, which is fourth ball, but after having touched second he overslides or overruns that base. Catcher’s throw catches him before he can return. Ruling is that the runner is out. (Force out is removed.)”

Counsell disagreed with the reversal and was ejected from the game by home-plate umpire Junior Valentine.

“Umpires interpret rules correctly,” Counsell said. “They don’t get that stuff wrong, but it’s a bad rule. It’s a terrible rule. I don’t know what else to say. Not a good rule.”