Lackey unapologetic after exploding at ump: He cost me a win

Chicago Cubs right-hander John Lackey wasn't in a conciliatory mood following his ejection from Friday's matinee against the St. Louis Cardinals, lambasting home-plate umpire Jordan Baker for costing him a win with a questionable non-strike call - and ensuing heave-ho - in the fifth inning.

"He missed the pitch," Lackey told reporters, including ESPN's Jesse Rogers, following his club's 8-2 victory at Wrigley Field. "It's a big spot in a huge game and he missed the pitch."

Lackey continued: "(He) cost me a big league win. Those don't grow on trees."

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Lackey, who ranks third among active pitchers with 187 career wins, may have a point. According to the pitch-tracking system at Baseball Savant, Lackey's fateful 2-2 slider to Carlos Martinez was clearly a strike, and the Cardinals right-hander even started heading to the dugout in anticipation of being rung up.

"He almost walked to the grass," Lackey said of Martinez. "He knew he was out."

Baker didn't see it that way, though - perhaps due to the awkward way catcher Willson Contreras received the pitch - and called it a ball, sending Lackey into a fit. After Martinez poked a go-ahead single into right-center on the following pitch, Lackey exploded on Baker for a second time and was promptly ejected, along with Contreras.

"He had no argument back," Lackey said. "He was just trying to say, 'That's enough.' Usually when they do that they know they missed it."

Though Lackey insisted there was no cross-up on the pitch, Contreras told a different story, saying post-game he called for a four-seam fastball - not the 82.5-mph slider he got.

Nevertheless, the sequence ended Lackey's start after 4 2/3 innings, marking the first time this season that the one-time All-Star has failed to complete at least five frames.