BOSTON _ Orioles starter Kevin Gausman was ejected in the second inning of Wednesday night's game against the Boston Red Sox for hitting shortstop Xander Bogaerts in the back with a breaking ball.
Despite a conference call with the commissioner's office Wednesday afternoon urging both teams to quell the dangerous aspects of their white-hot rivalry, neither team was given a pregame warning after a tense few games that included Boston left-hander Chris Sale throwing behind Orioles third baseman Manny Machado on Tuesday.
Machado has frequently been the target of Red Sox pitches since he injured their star second baseman, Dustin Pedroia, with a slide April 21. He unloaded on Boston for the Red Sox's attempts to hit him in a postgame press conference Tuesday, and the league took action Wednesday.
Still, home plate umpire Sam Holbrook decided to toss Gausman after he hit Bogaerts with a pitch measured at 76 mph. Gausman had thrown just eight of his 19 pitches in the first inning for strikes, and after Holbrook signaled for the ejection, Gausman and catcher Caleb Joseph became enraged.
Gausman charged to the plate and screamed in Holbrook's face, appearing to say it was unintentional, while Joseph pled the same.
Eventually, manager Buck Showalter came out to separate his players from Holbrook before taking over the argument.
Left-hander Richard Bleier took over for Gausman, making his Orioles debut.
