Home plate umpire Chad Whitson didn’t have his best day at the office on Thursday, and Aaron Boone made sure he knew about it.
After a number of questionable calls during another frustrating loss for the Yankees, Boone exploded during a pitching change and was ejected in the seventh inning of Thursday’s series finale against the Rays, with Boone using the ejection as an opportunity to blow off some steam after multiple questionable strike calls went against the Yanks in some key spots.
“Yeah, you know, just thought some things, expressed some things and got run,” Boone said after the game. “Wanted to get my point across. Thought there was some close pitches, but the Rays outplayed us today. Had some disagreements with him throughout the day, and probably said some things I can’t get away with, and that’s the gist of it.”
Some of Whitson’s most egregious misses came in the bottom of the fourth, when the Yankees had their best scoring chance with runners on second and third and one out. Clint Frazier took a strike that looked to be well outside, and the same outcome happened again three pitches later to even the count at 2-2. Frazier eventually struck out.
“I thought it definitely didn’t go our way today, but we still had some chances there and didn’t get it done today,” Boone said.
Another questionable call came in the fifth, when Kevin Kiermaier was called safe when he appeared to step out of the baseline on an infield single, but Boone believes that call shouldn’t be held against the umpiring crew despite a tough day otherwise.
“I was checking to see if we were going to review the tag, and then wanted to get some clarification on the three-foot rule,” Boone said. “I felt like he was in his rights and it was the right call.”
On the other side, Gerrit Cole was frustrated himself after wanting some strike calls that were not given by Whitson. It was one of Cole’s worst outings of the season, and he kept the focus more on his own performance than that of Whitson’s, though some strike calls may have made his afternoon a little easier to navigate.
“I think that when it’s all said and done there were too many fastballs above the zone that had the opportunity to press the corners, and that’s the pitch I was most consistently missing with,” Cole said. “Commanding that better maybe doesn’t make some of the questionable calls quite so magnified. As players, we try to control what we can control, and however frustrating it may be, not let it affect you.”
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
Follow WFAN on Social Media
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitch