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'Ump Show:' Josh Donaldson and Joe Musgrove ejected and players weren't happy with the umps

Chris Cwik
Staff writer
Josh Donaldson and Joe Musgrove.

Pittsburgh Pirates starter Joe Musgrove and Atlanta Braves third baseman Josh Donaldson didn’t last long Monday night. Both players were ejected from the contest in the first inning after they were at the center of a benches-clearing incident.

With two outs in the first inning, Musgrove came inside and hit Donaldson on the first pitch of the at-bat. After some staring, the two started jawing at each other, causing the benches to clear.

After the umpires met, it was determined both players should be ejected from the contest. That drew plenty of criticism from injured Pirates starter Jameson Taillon.

Former Braves pitcher Eric O’Flaherty was also not a fan of the ejections.

O’Flaherty went on to explain that he could “MAYBE” see Donaldson getting ejected for shoving Pirates catcher Elias Diaz. O’Flaherty, however, couldn’t understand why Musgrove was ejected.

Neither could Pirates manager Clint Hurdle. After some arguing, he was also tossed from the contest.

The argument from both Taillon and O’Flaherty seems to be that since there were no punches thrown, neither player should have been ejected. Generally, that’s how these situations usually play out.

While Donaldson and Musgrove didn’t throw punches, they escalated the situation. Neither wanted to back down, which brought teammates out of the dugout and onto the field.

Though cooler heads prevailed, Donaldson and Musgrove still put teammates in a position to get hurt. Mike Morse suffered a career-ending concussion trying to break up a fight between Bryce Harper and Hunter Strickland, so that notion isn’t far-fetched.

Some players may not agree with that approach, but it does prevent needless injuries.

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Chris Cwik is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik

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