Clark Schmidt had some issues with the strike zone during his outing. He painted the outside edge multiple times but couldn’t get a consistent call. One early pitch went for a strike, then two very similar ones got called balls. Yankees manager Aaron Boone noticed the discrepancy and let the umpire know. Data backed him up. A graphic showed Schmidt’s borderline pitches were all called balls, while the opposing pitcher got strikes on nearly identical spots.
Boone voiced his frustration, telling the ump about four missed strike calls. He claimed he was just trying to help. The umpire didn’t take it well and ejected him. Boone argued he shouldn’t have been tossed since he hadn’t said anything inappropriate. He pointed to the pitches and insisted the zone was inconsistent. Things escalated when Boone got in the umpire’s face, which led to a suspension after accusations that he spit while yelling. Boone later said it was accidental.
The whole episode showed Boone sticking up for his pitcher and challenging zone inconsistency. He pushed back hard, maybe too hard in the ump’s eyes. But based on the visual evidence, he had a point.