Anthony Rendon never says a word but gets ejected from the game, a breakdown
What Happened
In the bottom of the third inning, Washington Nationals third baseman Anthony Rendon steps up to the plate against New York Mets pitcher Steven Matz. Rendon had already been called out on strikes in his previous at-bat and was clearly frustrated with the umpire's strike zone. On the first pitch of this at-bat, Matz delivers a sharp curveball that catches the top of the strike zone. Rendon does not agree with the call and lets his body language show his displeasure, but does not say anything directly to the umpire, home plate umpire Marty Foster. The next pitch from Matz is a high fastball and Rendon allows it to go by for ball two. Matz then comes back with another curveball, this one clipping the top of the zone. Rendon does not like the call, shaking his head in frustration, but still does not speak to the umpire. On the very next pitch, Matz freezes Rendon with a sharp breaking ball for strike three. Rendon simply tosses his bat to the ground in disgust, never uttering a word. However, this is enough for Umpire Foster, who immediately ejects Rendon from the game without warning. Nationals manager Dave Martinez comes sprinting out of the dugout to argue the ejection. He animatedly tells Foster that the pitches were not over the plate, spiking his hat in the process. Despite Rendon's silence, Martinez continues to defend his player and he too is ejected from the game in the most unenthusiastic manner possible. The crowd reacts with a mix of confusion and amusement, with one fan yelling "Attaboy, David!" - though no one on the field is named David. Replays show the pitches were indeed close calls, but Rendon never said a word in his own defense, silently accepting his fate as he heads to the clubhouse. This bizarre incident exemplifies Rendon's quiet, no-nonsense approach, as well as the passion of manager Martinez to have his players' backs. Though Rendon never raised his voice, the umpire's quick trigger resulted in the ejections of both the player and the manager in this tense early-season matchup between NL East rivals.
Full Transcript
Click timestamps to jump to that momentgoing back to April of 2018 for this one
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in the first inning Rendon got rung up
on that strike it was inside he didn't
like it look at his body language you're
like okay I'm out of here so then he
comes up in the third inning for his
next at-bat he already wasn't happy with
the first strike any kind of showed it
so the UMP kind of saw that but still
nothing you would get rung up four steps
into the batter's box we got Matz on the
mound drops a nice curveball strike one
I like that pitch a lot I think it's
good and I enjoyed it oh one pitch Matt
spikes that one then the next one he's
gonna float high got a lick the finger
now it's to one curve again this time
Clips the top of the zone and you can
see Rendon doesn't like this I think it
did come down by the letters there but
red Owens not happy kind of goes back to
the head don't care about anything steps
out of the box I'm passed to ask him to
step back into the box very next pitch
BAM
strike three Ren don't throws the bat
doesn't say word is this a strike check
out my super scientific chart here when
is it over the plate is it over the
plate now is it over the plate now and a
ball is it over the plate now it's
behind the plate there but yeah so it
was a pretty close pitch I think that
one's pretty close Rendon just tosses
the bat in just in defeat and disgust
and like okay what am I even doing up
here this is pointless
umpire did not like that says get out of
here
like what just throw me out
I'm says what was that what is that
everyone run down just laughing like
what
so davey Martinez comes out he's gonna
chew up the UMP and he's telling him
that ball was wildly inside that ball
was kind of a good pitch but I think
there was some other calls in this game
whatever Davies got his guys back now he
gets tossed the most unenthusiastic toss
and he spikes his hat between his legs
starts digging so it was all the way
over there it was all the way over there
it wasn't but I appreciate the theatrics
by Davey here we cut to the crowd and
this guy says Thatta boy David and no
one calls him David so we're all weirded
out by that fan it was at the knees
either
it was actually I think it's fine but
Rendon didn't say a word I just love
this shot of her and I'm like wait what
I did not open my mouth that all and
Marty foster rings him up this one was
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