The Cleveland Guardians are locked in a tight division race against the Minnesota Twins and the Chicago White Sox, and Guardians manager Terry Francona knows that every plate appearance counts. Tensions can get high when the stakes are at their highest, and Francona surely felt the heat of the moment against the Los Angeles Angels.
With two runners on with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning with the Guardians clinging on to a one-run lead against the still-dangerous Angels, second baseman Andres Gimenez stepped up to the plate for Cleveland. Gimenez appeared to be hit by a pitch from Ryan Tepera, and Francona noticed Gimenez motioning for a review of the play which would have loaded the bases had it gone Cleveland's way.
Francona quickly came to the defense of Gimenez, and argued with home plate umpire Ron Kulpa, and the ensuing exchange of words must have been expletive-laden, as Francona was tossed out of the game shortly after. It was Francona's third ejection of the season.
In this 5 minute sequence, BOTH Francona and Nevin are ejected pic.twitter.com/8pxZ4APHbC
— Bad Sports Refs (@BadSportsRefs) September 13, 2022
Thankfully for Francona, the Guardians were able to hold on to a 5-4 victory, bumping their lead over the White Sox to a more comfortable three games. When asked about the words exchanged between him and Kulpa that caused his ejection, Francona had a hilarious response.
“After that, I just checked on his family a little bit. He checked on mine,” Francona said.
Tito said he raised his hand to have a moment to check the replay. The umpire instead said Giménez stepped in the box and was ready for the pitch. That’s what caused the uproar.
“After that, I just checked on his family a little bit. He checked on mine,” Tito said with a grin.
— Mandy Bell (@MandyBell02) September 13, 2022
Even Angels manager Phil Nevin couldn't escape the wrath of the umpires as he was soon ejected after Terry Francona. The Angels manager tried to lobby for Kulpa to allow Tepera to throw warm up pitches after the pause in the action cooled down the Angels' reliever, but things got heated soon too, and Nevin followed Francona to an early exit. It was just a rough night for managers and umpires in Cleveland.
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