Stakes were high when the Chicago Cubs faced the Detroit Tigers on Sunday with the series tied 1-1. The rubber game of the series was marred by controversy after Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner was ejected after an exchange with the home plate umpire.
With the Tigers leading 2-0 in the top of the fifth inning, Nico Hoerner faced Jack Flaherty from the mound. With the Cubs second baseman on a 2-2 count, Flaherty threw a 90 mph fastball that was called a strike by home plate umpire Derek Thomas.
Hoerner didn’t like the call from Thomas and vented his frustration by protesting the strike. Thomas didn’t like the gesture from the Chicago star and ejected him after a verbal exchange.
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Cubs manager Craig Counsell was also ejected after Hoerner was given his marching orders. Vidal Brujan replaced Nico Hoerner at second base after his ejection.
Following the game, Hoerner said that there wasn’t anything malicious about his comments on the strike call during the series decider.
“I don’t think it’s really that often you can verbatim say to the press afterward what got you thrown out,” Hoerner said. “I said, ‘You’re having a really bad day.'”
Nico Hoerner’s ejection enraged fans as demands for ABS grew louder.
Chaitanya Prakash is an editor who covers US Sports at Sportskeeda. His first brush with sportswriting was in 2012 when the greatest football manager of all time, Sir Alex Ferguson, bid farewell to the beautiful game.
Although having started out professionally as a cricket writer in 2022, Chaitanya’s curiosity and indiscriminate interest in all sports in general eventually introduced him to America’s favorite pastime.
While Chaitanya’s favorite player from the current crop is the dynamic Venezuelan Ronald Acuna Jr., his all-time favorite, however, is Pedro Martinez, for his self-belief and consistency. He also rates Jose Bautista’s iconic bat flip in 2015 as his favorite moment in baseball history.
Chaitanya specializes in reporting on technical aspects of the game or analyzing patterns behind specific plays. He also likes pondering over players’ self-assessments following the conclusion of a game as it helps him get an idea of how they think about the sport in general.
When not cheering for his favorites across sports, Chaitanya likes being transported to the past through a good war documentary or a historical documentary in general.
