In a tense, rain-soaked eighth inning, Fernando Tatis Jr. stepped to the plate representing the tying run for the Padres as Devin Williams tried to close it out for the Brewers. After chasing an early changeup, Tatis seemed determined to wait for something in the zone. Williams threw three straight changeups, the third called a strike low in the zone, which Tatis disagreed with. The disagreement quickly escalated. The home plate umpire barked at the Padres’ dugout, prompting manager Mike Shildt to lose it. He yelled back, denying anyone had said anything, and lit into the ump with a profanity-laced rant.
Tatis, now in protect mode with two strikes, chased another low changeup. After the swing, he turned to make a comment—unclear exactly what—but it led to his first career ejection. Shildt erupted again, this time in defense of his player, frustrated that he wasn’t given the chance to step in before the ejection. He ripped off his glasses, yelled about his reputation for having a clean dugout, and pointed out that only three of his players had been ejected in two years: Jurickson Profar, Manny Machado, and now Tatis.
Despite Williams’ nasty changeup, the Padres got the last laugh. After the drama, the Brewers’ reliever was pulled, and the Padres went on a scoring spree. What started as a strike call led to a fiery ejection and ended with the Padres walking away with a comeback win.