Kevin Gausman was cruising against the New York Yankees on Sunday, until he wasn’t.
The Toronto Blue Jays starter was ejected by home plate umpire Chris Conroy after tying a team record by throwing 53 pitches in the third inning at Yankee Stadium.
Gausman needed only 18 pitches to set down six of the first seven batters he faced, but was then tagged for six runs after walking five and allowing two hits, as what started as a stellar outing unravelled.
The former all-star and Cy Young finalist was a strike away from getting out of a bases-loaded jam, but Austin Wells worked the count back full before lining an outside fastball for a three-run double. Gausman was promptly pulled by Blue Jays manager John Schneider.
The star right-hander was visibly unhappy with a number of Conroy’s ball-strike calls throughout his final inning, and let the home plate umpire know as he exited towards the visitors dugout, resulting in an inconsequential ejection, as Gausman had already been removed from the game.
Schneider was ejected two innings inning later for arguing a strike call on Vladimir Guerrero Jr. two pitches into the fifth.
Gausman and Conroy first engaged in a heated exchange to start the inning when a fastball that appeared to catch the zone at Oswaldo Cabrera’s knees was called a ball.
The 53 pitches tied Woody Williams for the franchise record, who threw his marathon inning in 1998.
It was an uncharacteristic collapse for Gausman, who had pitched to a 3.61 ERA and 0.82 WHIP with 26 strikeouts and six walks over 31.1 innings to start the season.
Gausman’s four-seam fastball velocity fluctuated between 89 and 96 m.p.h. as he lost command of his arsenal, also often missing arm side with his splitter. He opened the outing by throwing nine consecutive fastballs, and threw the pitch 67 per cent of the time compared to his season average of 54 per cent.
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