Yankees' Aaron Boone reacts to first ejection of 2024 season
Yankees manager Aaron Boone was ejected for the first time this season during Wednesday's 5-2 loss to the Miami Marlins.
Boone began arguing with home plate umpire John Bacon from the dugout while Alex Verdugo was at the plate in the bottom of the seventh inning. Bacon called a low and outside pitch a strike to make it a 1-2 count, upsetting both Verdugo and Boone.
Bacon then tossed Boone from the game for continuing to argue the call.
After the loss, Boone said he was "a little bit" surprised by the ejection, saying that it "felt quick."
Verdugo eventually struck out and Marlins reliever Andrew Nardi retired the next two batters for a 1-2-3 inning. Boone was asked about Verdugo's frustration on the outside pitches, and said that the hitter needs to stay focused even when there are tough calls.
"As the hitter you got to stay locked in there, it was a tough night against him," Boone said. "I thought it was a pretty good, well-called game. And Verdugo had some, I thought, ones that obviously went against him pretty bad in some key spots. It's gonna happen every now and then, you just got to lock in as best you can."
The Yanks had a chance to tie or take the lead in the eighth after Juan Soto doubled to make it a 4-2 game, but couldn't get "the big hit," the manager noted. New York went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position and left 10 runners on base in the loss.
"I thought we competed really well all night. We didn't get the big hit tonight," Boone said. "We had chances in the middle of the game where it looked like we were building something, they were able to get out of it, and then all the way to the end there. Just couldn't quite finish it off. But the purpose I've been talking about, you could feel that. Gave ourselves a chance there in the end."
