Stammen, Goins ejected 3 pitches into game before Padres snap losing skid

SAN DIEGO -- The Padres entered play Sunday in the midst of their longest losing streak since 2013. Clearly, it wasn’t sitting well.

Manager Craig Stammen and infield coach Ryan Goins were ejected -- not even one batter into Sunday’s 5-2 win against the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium.

The Padres took issue with a close check-swing call on an 0-1 pitch from Dodgers starter Emmet Sheehan to Fernando Tatis Jr. Their dugout barked at first-base ump Ben May, before plate ump Nick Mahrley ejected Goins. Stammen emerged to argue with May, and he was tossed as well.

“The umpires told us to calm down a little bit, not say another word,” Stammen said. “And [Goins] said another word. I felt like I needed to go out there and defend him a little bit.”

It was Stammen’s third career ejection as a manager (after a 13-year career in which he wasn’t ejected once).

“I did not feel it was warranted,” Stammen said. “But I’m not the one who gets to eject people.”

Publicly, Stammen has taken an extremely positive approach amid the team’s recent struggles. But there’s clearly some frustration building, and it came to the fore in the first inning on Sunday.

Given the team’s struggles, was Stammen planning an ejection as a form of motivation, even before the game? Quite the opposite, he said.

“I was not looking to get tossed,” Stammen said. “In fact, I told the umpire not to toss me. And he still did.”

Whatever the motivation, it marked the start of a crucial win for the Padres, whose eight-game losing streak came to an end.