Dodgers: Reason behind Walker Buehler ejection proves he was right

The Los Angeles Dodgers squeaked out a victory over the New York Mets on Friday, as they were able to escape a bases-loaded jam in the top of the eighth before Kenley Jansen sealed the deal with a perfect ninth inning.

The game was largely uneventful for the first few hours, but that all changed in the eighth inning, as the Dodgers asked Walker Buehler, who allowed just two hits over the first seven innings, to get three more outs.

Things didn’t go smoothly for Buehler in the eighth, as he allowed an RBI infield single by Pete Alonso to bring the Mets within one run.

That forced Dave Roberts to pull Buehler, but not before the NL Cy Young favorite gave the home plate umpire an earful.

Buehler was ultimately ejected from the game after he argued that Alonso’s single hit his foot in the box and should’ve been ruled foul.

Well, it turns out Buehler was ejected for being right, because video replay shows that the ball clearly ricocheted off Alonso’s foot.

Walker Buehler was right to lose his mind before he was ejected.

It seemed obvious at the time, so how did the umpiring crew miss this call at such a pivotal moment in the game? Poor umpiring has been a theme of the 2021 season, but that’s mostly had to do with balls and strikes and MLB’s maddening replay system.

This might be the first instance where a call like this has caused a firestorm on social media, and you can see why Buehler lost his cool.

The Dodgers’ ace was frustrated with a couple non-strike calls in a previous at-bat in the inning, and the clear miss on Alonso’s infield hit was enough to send him over the edge, as he admitted during his postgame presser.

“Just trying to be competitive and thinking that I’m making pitches that I haven’t looked at but probably are balls,” Buehler said. “Just a little bit frustrating there at the end. He told me to stop and I didn’t stop so I get what he did. That’s his job.”

Luckily for Walker, he still got the win, allowing two runs on six hits with zero walks and eight strikeouts. However, the blown call helped end his streak of allowing one run or fewer in five consecutive starts. Thanks a lot, MLB.

In all seriousness, Walker being proved right should send a warning to the rest of the league. When the mild-mannered righty loses his temper on the mound, there’s probably a good reason for it.

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