The Phillies and Reds were fighting for a playoff spot, and things got tense fast. Jonathan India put the Reds up early with a solo shot, but all eyes turned to Nick Castellanos during his next at-bat. After a couple of close pitches from Aaron Nola, Castellanos wasn’t happy. He kicked the dirt, laughed at the ump, and finally told him he was “really bad at your job.” That set the ump off, leading to an immediate ejection.
Reds manager David Bell came out to defend his player, but he didn’t last long either. After arguing that the pitches were off the plate and not worth an ejection, Bell got tossed too. The conversation between Bell and the ump was heated but also telling. Bell argued that he wasn’t being disrespectful and that the ejection was unnecessary. The ump disagreed, saying it crossed the line and became personal. Replay showed the pitch was just off the outside edge, so Castellanos may have had a case. Still, the ump didn’t care. Once things got personal, the hook came fast. It added another layer of stress to an already tense playoff race.