BALTIMORE -- Orioles catcher Matt Wieters was ejected in the bottom of the fifth inning of Thursday night's 3-2 win over the Blue Jays for arguing a third-strike call with home-plate umpire Dan Bellino.
Wieters, who argued he checked his swing, struck out with Baltimore trailing Toronto, 2-1, and the catcher uncharacteristically showed his emotions with Bellino before being thrown out shortly thereafter.
"I don't like to get them, but I said some things I probably shouldn't have," Wieters said of his second career ejection. "He just hit a nerve a little bit, especially the checked swing, because they do have the option to get help. It was just, I thought it was a little bit inconsistent behind the plate for most of the night. As a catcher, first you just want to get pitches for both sides. They were getting a few more. Temper got the best of me and boiled over."
Wieters, who has had both ejections come against Toronto, left the field, and manager Buck Showalter angrily stormed out to have some words with Bellino. Despite a lengthy on-field conversation, Showalter was not ejected, and he said he wasn't surprised when Wieters got the boot.
"That usually gets you ejected," Showalter said of what Wieters said to Bellino. "Basically if you ask for help there, and he [calls on] the third-base umpire, you can semi-live with it. There's so much inconsistency on that play. I wish we could have a flash replay. There was a lot of frustration built over the game about the strike zone. I think that was an accumulation over that, too."
Wieters, the first Oriole to be ejected this season, was replaced by Caleb Joseph behind the plate. And though he was the only Orioles player who was tossed, Wieters was far from alone in showing his frustration with Bellino's strike zone. Nolan Reimold and Mark Trumbo were among the other Orioles who were visibly upset with calls while batting on Thursday night.
"He's trying hard back there to get the balls and strikes right. It's one thing where he could have gotten help, but he didn't," Wieters said. "It was a little frustrating trying to figure out where his strike zone was. He's doing his best back there. We're all human."