Chris Sale of the Atlanta Braves was ejected by umpire Dan Merzel before a pitch was thrown in a game against the New York Yankees. The ejection occurred as umpires entered the field and walked past the Braves’ dugout on the third base line, when Sale began verbally protesting toward Merzel. The pitcher was subsequently removed from the game, with crew chief Dan Bellino conversing with him near the dugout rail after the ejection.
The pre-game ejection followed a controversial call from the previous day’s contest. On Saturday, Merzel called Sale for a balk during the fifth inning of a 5-4 loss, allowing rookie Spencer Jones to score after he had hit an RBI triple. Sale reacted strongly to the call, arguing with the umpire before manager Walt Weiss continued the dispute and was also ejected. Bellino explained after that game that Sale had failed to declare he was pitching from the windup before one particular at-bat, contrasting this with an earlier at-bat where he had made such a declaration before striking out José Caballero.
Despite the ejection, the Braves secured a 2-1 victory over the Yankees in 10 innings, with center fielder Michael Harris II delivering a game-winning single. Harris said he witnessed Sale’s ejection motion and connected it to the previous day’s events. For Sale, the ejection marked his fourth career removal and his first since August 3, 2019, when he was pitching for Boston and was ejected by Mike Estabrook for arguing balls and strikes. In his third season with Atlanta, Sale had compiled a 12-7 record with a 2.20 ERA across 21 starts, with his most recent loss occurring on June 28.
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