Francona ejected in 1st inning of series opener vs. Cards

ST. LOUIS – Cincinnati manager Terry Francona was ejected in the bottom of the first inning of Friday’s series opener against the Cardinals at Busch Stadium, the culmination of a curious incident that, at first, seemed to have ended the inning and instead cost the Reds two runs.

With Alec Burleson on first base, Iván Herrera on third base and two outs, Cardinals second baseman Bryan Torres hit what appeared to be a routine ground ball to second base. Spencer Steer gathered it up, and seeing Burleson running an evasive pattern around him, threw on to first for what might have been an uneventful groundout.

Instead, with Sal Stewart subtly reaching his right foot back toward the bag after receiving the throw, first-base umpire Ben May insistently signaled that Torres was safe, waving his arms from left to right to demonstrate that Stewart had been off the bag. After a short period of checking with his support staff, Francona signaled for a review.

The on-field replay dragged on long enough to drum up some anticipation in the crowd, and eventually home-plate umpire and crew chief Chris Conroy activated his public address microphone to declare May’s original call would stand. Francona then charged up the dugout steps despite Conroy’s warnings to remain where he was, and was ejected after a brief and relatively restrained conversation.

Francona handed off the lineup card to bench coach Freddie Benavides. Friday is also the first game the Reds have been without pitching coach Derek Johnson, who is taking an indefinite leave of absence, as announced by the club earlier in the day.