Lars Nootbaar stepped up in the third inning and quickly ran into trouble with the strike zone. All three called strikes were clearly off the plate, and he wasn’t happy, especially after getting ejected in the previous game. He voiced his frustration but held off any blow-up—for now. Things escalated when his manager stepped in during the next at-bat to defend him, calling out the umpire for the same questionable outside calls. The ump tried to shut it down with a “stop” warning, but then hit him with a “huh,” which basically asked for a response, and he got one. That led to an ejection.
Crew chief Laz Diaz jumped in to back up the umpire and separated the manager from the argument. But Diaz went a step further, turning the dugout clash into a personal back-and-forth. When the manager pointed out faults in both umps, Diaz clapped back about a player’s .210 batting average. The exchange turned fairly petty, with both sides taking personal shots. Mics picked up most of it, which made for good theater but highlighted how tense things got. The strike zone didn’t make much sense, and instead of de-escalating, the crew chief made it worse.