Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Merrill Kelly was the subject of a bizarre sequence on Monday night as the team won its fourth straight game in a come-from-behind victory over the Oakland Athletics.
Kelly was taken out of the game in the eighth inning after he allowed two runners on base. As he walked back to the dugout, he started to chirp at first-base umpire Brock Ballou. Frustrations appeared to boil over and Ballou ejected Kelly from the game he was already exiting.
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The entire incident gave off “You can’t fire me, I quit,” vibes. Kelly appeared to be upset that Ballou didn’t give him a strike on a check-swing call just minutes earlier. Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo was ejected for arguing that call.
“I thought that was a terrible call. I thought it was a very, very obvious swing,” Kelly said after the game. “I’ve seen the video of it; in my mind it was a very obvious swing. At that time that guy’s got one job to do and that’s the only thing he’s got to pay attention to right there. Missed it and it lost me a strikeout and probably what led to me coming out of that game.”
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Lovullo said he wasn’t “proud” of losing his cool in that moment.
“I lost my composure there a little bit, but I’m hashing it,” Lovullo said. “I want plays called the right way. I felt very strongly that it was a full swing. He dumped me from the dugout.”
Kelly completed seven full innings of work. He struck out nine batters and allowed just two runs – one earned – on four hits.
Arizona won the game 5-2. The Diamondbacks are 24-18 on the season. Oakland is 9-34.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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