SAN DIEGO – Nationals manager Blake Butera was ejected for the second time in his career in Washington’s 9-2 loss Wednesday afternoon at Petco Park.
Butera was tossed from the dugout by first-base umpire Emil Jimenez during the bottom of the third inning against the Padres. Butera was addressing Jimenez’s check-swing call during Ty France’s two-out at-bat. After the ejection was enforced, Butera ran over to first base to continue the conversation.
“I thought France swung,” Butera said. “I thought that was a big spot in the game, thought it should have been strike three to get us out of the inning. Obviously, didn’t call it and wasn’t the last out of the inning. I just wanted to stand up for these guys.”
The Nationals were leading, 2-0, with runners on first and second when Jackson Kent worked an 0-2 count against France. Kent threw a curveball in the dirt, then he pointed to Jimenez as France retracted his bat. The Nationals were looking for a called third strike; Jimenez instead ruled that France didn’t swing, making it a 1-2 count.
France singled into left field on the next pitch and drove in Fernando Tatis Jr. to make it a 2-1 game.
In the next at-bat, Jackson Merrill belted a deep fly ball a Statcast-projected 403 feet, and center fielder Jacob Young crashed into the wall and fell to the warning track attempting to catch it. Manny Machado and France scored on the go-ahead triple. The Nationals surrendered the lead and have lost seven in a row.
“Look, we’ve been going through a stretch, obviously, where things have not gone our way, and it just felt like another one there in a big spot for us,” said Butera. “Then to add on, you see J.Y. laying it all out, running into the wall there, which never even should have happened, in my opinion — just frustrated.”
Following Butera’s ejection, bench coach Michael Johns took over at the helm for the Nationals.