KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Minnesota manager Rocco Baldelli was ejected during Monday night’s 4-2 loss at Kansas City after Twins pitcher Simeon Woods Richardson was called for a pitch clock violation.
There were two outs in the sixth inning when Woods Richardson stepped off the mount and tapped his ear, seemingly indicating he couldn’t hear his PitchCom. Umpire Nic Lentz then called a violation that resulted in a walk to Jonathan India.
Baldelli told reporters after the game that since Woods Richardson didn’t get a response from Lentz after tapping his ear, he realized he needed to try and get the pitch off before the clock expired.
“So he got back on the mound and tried to make a pitch,” Baldelli said. “What else is he going to do? He was forced to that. And with two seconds left and he’s trying to make a pitch on the mound and he gets a pitch clock violation called on him. And the clock hadn’t even expired.”
Baldelli came out of the dugout and argued with Lentz for a bit before he was ejected. He then continued to talk and gesture to Lentz before crew chief Vic Carapazza got between them.
Baldelli continued to complain to both umpires for a bit before eventually leaving the field.
“The umpire could have remedied the situation in a number of ways,” Baldelli said. “But instead makes him get back on the mound and pitch, and then banged him for a violation which hadn’t even occurred yet. Anyway, it didn’t make sense.”
The Twins trailed 4-1 when he was tossed.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
