SAN FRANCISCO — It was a lost weekend for the Red Sox, who won just once though they could have easily swept the San Francisco Giants in the weekend series.
And in the top of the eighth inning of a 9-5 loss, some of that frustration — along with some unhappiness over the umpiring all weekend — led to the ejection of manager Alex Cora and Jarren Duran.
Duran had left off the inning with a sharply-hit ball to right and decided to go for second base. He beat the throw from Giants right fielder Mike Yastrzemski, but his momentum carried him just past the bag. An alert Willy Adames slapped the tag on Duran again and he was called out by umpire Doug Eddings.
The Red Sox challenged the call with a video replay review, and despite the fact that there were angles that seemed to show Duran safely touching the bag with the tips of his fingers, the call “stood” — meaning the replay officials in New York couldn’t find conclusive evidence to overturn the original call.
As Duran jogged off the field, he had something to say to Eddings, and was quickly tossed, with third base coach Kyle Hudson hustling over to separate Duran from Eddings.
Cora came running out to protect his play, and while he was there, got in commentary, too, leading to his ejection. For good measure, he referenced a play in the fourth when home plate umpire Mike Muchlinski ruled that Abraham Toro had run out of the baseline trying to get to the plate.
“He’s safe, clearly, and then he comes off the bag,” said Cora of Duran. “The one that I was upset with was the one at the plate. That one, he said (Toro) was off the line. I was like, how? You make the turn, you establish it and he just jumped over (Giants catcher Patrick Bailey). It was an athlete making an athletic play.
“My whole frustration at the end was more at that – and obviously the first game and the check swings and all that. It is what it is. I hate to get thrown out. I hate it. But obviously, I have to defend my player.”
It was the third ejection of the season for Cora and the first for Duran.
