Chris Sale, a key pitcher for the Atlanta Braves, faced an early ejection by umpire Dan Merzel during Sunday’s game against the New York Yankees, which occurred before the first pitch. Sale’s ejection came after an incident the previous day when a balk was called against him, leading to a scored run.
As the umpires entered the field, Sale began loudly voicing his complaints from the Braves’ dugout. This prompted Merzel to eject him. Sale also exchanged words with crew chief Dan Bellino during a conversation near the dugout rail.
The controversy began in Saturday’s game when Sale received his third career balk call by Merzel during the fifth inning, contributing to the Braves’ 5-4 loss. Rookie Spencer Jones scored on this balk, having hit an RBI triple just before. Following this event, Sale vocally confronted Merzel, a dispute later continued by manager Walt Weiss, who was also ejected.
Bellino explained that the balk was called because Sale failed to declare he would pitch from the windup. He did declare during José Caballero’s strikeout but did not do so for Austin Wells’ at-bat.
This incident marks Sale’s fourth career ejection, the first since Aug. 3, 2019, when he was ejected for arguing over balls and strikes while with Boston. In that game, he was sent off by Mike Estabrook in the fourth inning during a 9-2 loss at Yankee Stadium.
In Saturday’s game, Sale allowed three runs and five hits over six innings and recorded his first loss since June 28. In his current third season with the Braves, Sale holds a 12-7 record and a 2.20 ERA over 21 starts.