Justin Verlander gets ejected in the middle of the inning, a breakdown

Houston Astros starting pitcher Justin Verlander is facing the Tampa Bay Rays in a blowout game, with the Astros leading 9-0 in the middle innings. Verlander, a future Hall of Famer, is in the midst of a dominant outing, having just struck out the previous batter with a well-placed fastball. As Verlander readies to deliver the next pitch, he believes he has earned a called strike three on the Rays hitter. However, the home plate umpire rules the pitch just missed the strike zone, much to Verlander's dismay. The veteran right-hander turns and expresses his frustration to the umpire, though he claims he was not directly looking at him. Nonetheless, the umpire immediately ejects Verlander from the game, drawing the furious reaction of the Astros ace. Verlander argues passionately, insisting he was not even looking at the umpire when voicing his displeasure. He tries to collect himself, acknowledging it is a lopsided 9-0 game and his work is essentially done. But Verlander cannot let go of the umpire's decision, continuing to express his outrage at being ejected in the middle of the game. He questions the umpire's handling of the situation, wondering why he felt the need to eject him over such a minor disagreement. Verlander laments, "I wasn't even looking at you. It's true he kind of turned and looked, but still, come on blue." As Verlander departs the field, still visibly upset, the Astros' bullpen takes over to finish out the one-sided victory. The veteran hurler expresses his frustration with the umpire's actions, feeling the ejection was unwarranted given the score and his dominant performance up to that point. Verlander's early exit, while unfortunate, does little to diminish the Astros' comfortable lead as they cruise to the win.