Arenado tossed for arguing called third strike

DENVER -- Third baseman Nolan Arenado was ejected in the eighth inning on Friday night by home plate umpire Seth Buckminster for arguing a called third strike on a 2-2 pitch.

"Obviously, I got [mad]," Arenado said. "I was just telling him, 'That's a ball. It's been a ball all night.' Then I said something like, 'That's frigging terrible.' You can put in another word. Shouldn't have said that, but I got caught up in the moment."

Buckminster is a Minor League call-up umpire. Major League Baseball is using eight more umpires this year because it has two crews in New York monitoring replays. On April 27, Buckminster ejected Daniel Murphy of the Mets for arguing a 1-2 pitch in the bottom of the 10th inning in a 7-6 loss to the Marlins.

It was the second straight game a Rockies player was ejected for disputing a called third strike. Troy Tulowitzki was ejected from the dugout in the fourth inning on Wednesday at Kansas City after shouting his displeasure to home plate umpire Dan Bellino.

Arenado came up with one out and a runner on first and the Rockies leading 2-0 in what would become a 3-1 victory.

"I just got upset," Arenado said. "That's all I can say. I thought it was a little low. But, hey, he's working, too. He's trying to get things right. I apologized. Just got caught up in the moment, but it's part of the game.

"I said a bad word and he said, 'You're gone.' Obviously, it's unfortunate. I probably shouldn't have said that bad word. But like I said, I was upset, caught up in the moment."

Asked whether Buckminster or Arenado went too far, Rockies manager Walt Weiss said, "It's hard to say. Nolan was frustrated right there, obviously. A pitch earlier in the at-bat kind of got him going and then strike three. I don't know exactly what was said, but he did what he did."