A humorous controversy broke out during the Royals vs. Athletics game today when Michael Wacha experienced a wardrobe malfunction while pitching, resulting in the ejection of A’s hitting coach Chris Cron. This incident happened in the bottom of the first inning as Wacha prepared to pitch to Carlos Cortes, but his chain suddenly came loose.
Wacha took off his chain, put it in his back pocket, and continued his pitch, throwing a fastball at Cortes, which was called a strike. The plate umpire noticed some noise from the A’s dugout and began arguing with Cron, who strongly disagreed with the umpire’s decision to let Wacha pitch when Cortes was not fully ready but was still in the batter’s box.
In a bizarre moment, the umpire quickly ejected Cron from the game, as the hitting coach looked dazed and confused. Cron came out of the dugout to the home plate asking for an explanation from the umpire, and then turned away and walked back inside the clubhouse.
Fans online noticed the umpire’s controversial ejection call and voiced their reactions on social media.
“Unbelievable call,” one fan commented.
“wtf is this ump doing,” another fan commented.
“Ump lets the pitcher play jeweler on the mound then ejects the coach for complaining?” yet another fan commented.
Some other fans pointed out that it should instead have been a balk as it was a clear pitch clock violation on Wacha’s part.
“What are we doing? That’s a pitch clock violation on the pitcher. If you want to put the chain away, just call time,” one fan commented.
“Should have been a balk. The Pitcher must come to a set position first,” another fan commented.
“Umps will let this slide and then call a balk on Kevin Gausman for his delivery being .2 seconds longer than usual,” yet another fan commented.
Michael Wacha Registered His Second Loss of the Season
Wacha suffered his second loss of the campaign after giving up four runs on eight hits, walking four batters, and striking out five in five innings pitched against the Royals on Wednesday night. With a 5-2 win, the A’s have now tied the series at 1-1.
Wacha is 2-2 for the season, with a 3.13 ERA, 33 strikeouts, and 1.12 WHIP. The veteran will make his next start against the Cleveland Guardians at home on Monday, while the A’s and the Royals will close out the three-game series tomorrow, with Noah Cameron (2-1) up against Jeffrey Springs (3-2).
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