Mike Napoli finally reached his boiling point.
Napoli struck out looking against Joe Smith in the eighth inning of the Boston Red Sox’s 3-1 win over the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday. The slugger, who expressed displeasure with a few calls throughout the three-game series, immediately began arguing with home plate umpire CB Bucknor, prompting an ejection.
“I disagreed. He didn’t like what I said,” Napoli told reporters in Anaheim.
The ejection was Napoli’s first of 2014. It was the Red Sox’s 11th ejection as a team.
Red Sox manager John Farrell, who has been tossed twice this season, immediately rushed to Napoli’s defense. Bucknor chose not to eject the Boston skipper despite a brief animated discussion.
