Globe iconLogin iconRecap iconSearch iconTickets icon

Price ejected after Reds lose challenge

Manager irked when B.J. Upton ruled safe on pickoff attempt by Cueto

ATLANTA -- Reds manager Bryan Price knew that by leaving the dugout to argue after his replay challenge went against him, he would be ejected. Price went out on the field anyway.

During a 1-0 Reds loss to the Braves in 10 innings on Sunday, Price was ejected for the first time as a skipper.

In the bottom of the first with two outs and Justin Upton batting, Reds pitcher Johnny Cueto fired a pickoff throw to first base to try to get B.J. Upton. The throw appeared to beat Upton back to the bag, but first-base umpire Greg Gibson ruled the runner safe. Price came out of the dugout to argue and request a challenge from crew chief Bill Miller.

Following a replay, it was decided that the call would stand and Upton was ruled safe.

"The umpires on the field don't have any say in it," Price said. "They just listen and wait for whatever decision is made out of New York. There's no real debate about if they got it right or if they got it wrong. In the end, you have the biggest Jumbotron in the country out there in center field that would strongly suggest that the runner was out on the pickoff. Then to say he's not, it seems to contradict what everyone in the ballpark thought was an out. I didn't get it. It didn't make any sense to me.

"We went back to look at video here after the play and the only angle is the one that everybody saw on the Jumbotron, which was that he was out."

Reds pitcher Homer Bailey was also ejected for yelling from the bench.

"I suggested they got the call wrong, even after reviewing it," Bailey said.

Price was ejected by Miller after he crossed the third-base line to continue arguing. Under the rules, managers have been instructed not to dispute the final decision after a replay.

"The play was right there in front of us, and he was out," Price said. "We're not just going to take this. It isn't OK. When you've got something playing repeatedly on the screen that says the runner is out and they call him safe, as the Cincinnati Reds, we're not going to just sit here and say that it's OK, we'll just take and chalk it up to whatever.'"

It's not the first time a manager was ejected for arguing after a replay. It happened to the Red Sox's John Farrell on April 13 vs. the Yankees and to Rangers manager Ron Washington the following day vs. the Mariners after replay over the "transfer rule" that has since been clarified.

"You just never know when those guys go under the headsets what is going to come out of there," Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "I thought they had a nice appeal, a nice challenge and that they may get the out there. Obviously, I hadn't seen all the angles, only the ones they showed on the scoreboard. Maybe that wasn't conclusive enough for them to change it."

The ejections of Price and Bailey were the first for the Reds since Brandon Phillips was ejected on Sept. 1, 2012. Price's ejection was the first by a Reds manager since Dusty Baker was ejected on Aug. 28, 2011.

Atlanta did not score in the inning after a Justin Upton single followed the disputed call.

Mark Sheldon is a reporter for MLB.com. Read his blog, Mark My Word, and follow him on Twitter @m_sheldon.
Read More: Cincinnati Reds