The Boston Red Sox didn’t try to hide their frustrations with home plate umpire Junior Valentine in Monday’s narrow 5-4 loss to the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards.
They took exception to many of Valentine’s ball-strike calls behind the dish, and hitting coach Peter Fatse got ejected for arguing from the dugout in the top of the sixth inning.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora certainly wasn’t pleased with Valetine’s strike zone, either, and voiced his frustrations about the umpiring following the series-opening loss.
“We were displeased from the first inning,” Cora told reporters, as seen on NESN postgame coverage. “Two pitches down in the zone. There was a pitch up in the zone. The (Triston) Casas cutter that never got to the plate. I’ll probably get in trouble if I keep talking, but I wasn’t too pleased with it. At the end of the day, you got to play the game.”
Cora made sure to get in some last words for the umpiring crew before he left the dugout after Jarren Duran lined out to third base to end the game with the tying run on second base. According to The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier, third base ump Quinn Wolcott tossed Cora at the conclusion of the contest.
Cora may hear from the league office for his criticism, but he definitely felt like he had to say his peace on the matter.
With that off his chest, the Red Sox will look to get back at the Orioles on Tuesday in the middle game of the three-game set. First pitch from Camden Yards is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. ET, and you can watch the game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, on NESN.
