NEW YORK – Saturday afternoon’s 13-4 loss at Yankee Stadium had barely started before Matt Quatraro was forced to take an early exit.
The Royals’ manager was ejected in the middle of the first inning for arguing with the umpiring crew about a lack of a balk call on Yankees starter Will Warren with Royals third baseman Maikel Garcia on second base in the top of the first inning.
According to Quatraro, the Royals have been told that if a pitcher comes set on the rubber and goes to touch his PitchCom device, it should be a balk. He was trying to receive clarification from the crew on whether that is actually the case because he saw Warren come set on the rubber before touching his PitchCom. Warren threw over to second base twice in the inning, but Garcia slid back and was safe each time.
“We’ve been told … it should be a balk because it’s essentially [the pitcher] starting and stopping twice,” Quatraro said. “That’s why I was trying to get some clarification. I was not out there to get ejected, but that’s the way it ended up.”
After Garcia was stranded at second base despite a first-pitch leadoff double to open Saturday’s game, Quatraro came out to talk to second-base umpire Nestor Ceja and crew chief Chris Guccione. It was a long discussion but appeared to be over when Quatraro turned away to walk back to the dugout – that is, until he threw up his arm and turned back around.
Ceja immediately ejected Quatraro, and the discussion got heated very fast among the group.
Quatraro headed straight into the dugout and down the steps to his office. Bench coach Paul Hoover took over managerial duties.
Quatraro said he saw what he thought should be a balk based on how it’s been explained to clubs both live and on replay, but the umpires disagreed.
“It’s just a difference in how different crews interpret it and how they call it,” Quatraro said.
If there was any thought of Quatraro’s ejection potentially firing the Royals up, that quickly disappeared. The Yankees erupted for five runs in the third inning against Royals starter Noah Cameron and didn’t stop, thumping Kansas City to secure a series win.