Phillies starter Roberto Hernandez was ejected after hitting Starlin Castro with a first-pitch fastball with two outs and the bases empty in the sixth inning of Friday night’s contest. Castro had homered off of Hernandez in the fourth inning, putting the Cubs up 2-0.
Home plate umpire Mark Ripperger must have assumed Hernandez was steaming from the home run, but Castro didn’t celebrate his home run in any way. He gazed out at it, but only to see if it had the distance, as it eventually landed just barely over the fence in left field. Hernandez also reacted immediately with disdain that he allowed the pitch to slip away the way it did. Here’s the video.
Ripperger hesitated for a few seconds, ostensibly mulling if he should issue warnings to both dugouts, but opted instead to eject Hernandez immediately. Hernandez could be seen responding, “me?” to Ripperger. Manager Ryne Sandberg came out to argue the decision to immediately eject Hernandez, and he too was ejected. Compare Ripperger’s itchy trigger finger to home plate umpire Dan Bellino’s in a May 30 match-up between the Rays and Red Sox in which David Price hit two Red Sox with pitches in what was a contentious game from the start. Four Red Sox were ejected, but Price was not.
