New York Yankees pitching coach Matt Blake received a very nice ejection on behalf of home plate umpire Mike Muchlinski.
Is there a more midwestern umpire name than Mike Muchlinski? The poor guy just can't help but be nice, even when he's throwing out Yankees pitching coach Matt Blake for cursing at him from the dugout.
The Yankees walked into the top of the fifth inning with a 4-3 lead over the Tampa Bay Rays, but the wheels fell off once starting pitcher Clarke Schmidt walked Isaac Paredes, surrendered singles to Wander Franco and Brandon Lowe, and allowed a run to score on a sacrifice fly by Randy Arozarena to tie the game. After walking Josh Lowe, manager Aaron Boone took Schmidt out of the game and brought in Albert Abreu. Four pitches later, Abreu gave up a grand slam to Taylor Walls, allowing the Rays to take an 8-4 lead.
Shortly thereafter, Blake let Muchlinski hear it from the dugout. That is when Muchlinski said to Blake "see you later!"
Was Blake clapping in the dugout like Arizona Diamondbacks first baseman Christian Walker this past Friday that earned him an ejection by Alfonso Marquez? That's what Walker was thrown out of a game for.
Even though the Yankees were down by four runs, they did find a way to crawl back into it. In the bottom of the seventh inning, Aaron Judge hit an RBI single to cut their deficit to 8-5. One inning later, Anthony Volpe hit a two-run homer to bring the Yankees within one run. But in the bottom of the ninth, Jason Adam was able to close out the game for the Rays, getting out Oswaldo Cabrera, Gleyber Torres and Judge in succession to get the 8-7 victory.
With that, the Yankees missed out on the chance to win the four-game series. Instead, it's a series split between New York and Tampa Bay.
With all of that drama, Blake was not there to see it since he was told by Muchlinski to "just get outta here."