The Red Sox and Dodgers underwent a thriller Saturday night that included plenty of fireworks at the plate, some of which resulted in a few Los Angeles ejections in Boston's 8-5 victory at Fenway Park.
In the top of the eighth inning, as the Dodgers trailed 7-5 with the bases loaded and two outs, Los Angeles' Max Muncy was questionably rung up on an 0-2 count when facing Boston's Chris Martin.
That triggered Muncy, causing the 33-year-old to toss his bat and get ejected by home plate umpire Jordan Baker. And in hindsight, Muncy stood by his stance, after going 1-for-5 with a home run and two RBIs against Boston.
"I told him the ball was down to which his response was, 'You threw your bat.' And that kind of locked me up a little bit and so then I just responded with, 'I need you to lock it in in a big situation like that,' and he goes, 'Oh okay,' and he threw me out," Muncy explained, as seen on NESN's postgame coverage. "It was as simple as that. ... He obviously didn't like that I threw my bat, but it is what it is. I was shocked. It felt very down to me and looking at the replay, it was."
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Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, who stormed out of the dugout in Muncy's defense, was also ejected after the Los Angeles rally-killing call.
"Max and I both felt that the ball was down in a big spot," Roberts told reporters, per NESN. "There's emotions, I didn't feel that he warranted to get tossed, I didn't know what he said. Obviously, we were arguing balls and strikes and I wanted to support Max and voice my opinion as well."
That put the nail in Los Angeles' coffin, handing the Dodgers a loss and setting up a rubber match with the Red Sox on Sunday afternoon, scheduled for 1:35 p.m. ET, at Fenway Park.
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Featured image via Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports Images