Bob Melvin didn’t wait for the first pitch on Sunday to give the umpires an earful.
For his effort, he was tossed.
The San Francisco Giants manager personally delivered his team’s lineup card to crew chief Chris Conroy’s umpiring crew ahead of Sunday’s game against the Colorado Rockies. It was not a cordial meeting.
The content of the exchange wasn’t clear. But the message was. Melvin was displeased. By the time the meeting was over, umpires ejected Melvin from the game.
Melvin’s day was done before the first pitch.
Why was Melvin upset?
Sunday’s was the third game of a three-game series between the Giants and Rockies. The Giants lost the first two. Per the San Jose Mercury News, Melvin’s beef with Conroy’s crew simmered throughout the series.
A “phantom hit-by-pitch” — Melvin’s words, not ours — of Rockies catcher Elías Díaz in Friday’s 7-3 Rockies win was certainly a point of contention. Umpires allowed Díaz to take first base when it wasn’t clear that he was hit by a pitch from Giants reliever Randy Rodríguez.
Díaz himself appeared to claim that the pitch hit his bat and not his body, but the umpiring crew awarded him first base after inconclusive replay didn’t overturn the call on the field. Díaz went on to score on a two-run Brenton Doyle home run that sparked a Rockies rally from a 3-0 deficit.
“I haven’t seen an umpire talk a guy into going to first base on a hit-by-pitch,” Melvin said postgame on Friday.
Melvin has also complained about the strike zone throughout the series. The losses on Friday and Saturday dropped the Giants to 47-52, piling on to an already disappointing season. But there was relief for San Francisco after Melvin’s pregame ejection.
Jorge Soler led off the game with a 478-foot home run over the centerfield wall at Coors Field.
Hayden Birdsong then pitched six two-run innings as the Giants secured a 3-2 win to salvage the series and secure their first win since the All-Star break.
Melvin presumably watched with pleasure from the clubhouse.
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