Nationals' Martinez felt disrespected by umpire in loss to Giants
Washington Nationals manager Dave Martinez was not only unhappy with Tony Randazzo's strike zone Tuesday night but also with how the home plate umpire treated him when he questioned said zone.
Martinez was tossed from the game - an eventual 7-3 loss to the San Francisco Giants - after he disagreed with strikes called against Brian Dozier and Anthony Rendon.
(Video courtesy: MLB.com)
The manager said he didn't appreciate how Randazzo handled the situation and felt the ejection was uncalled for.
"I was in the dugout," Martinez said after the game, according to MASN's Byron Kerr. "I said, 'Hey, let's go. You gotta be better than that.' I didn't cuss. I didn't say much other than, 'Let's go.' And what really irritated me was him putting his hand up in my face pretty much."
Martinez's beef with Randazzo's zone appears to have been warranted.
MLB At-Bat agrees with Dave Martinez with both called strikeouts last inning. Brian Dozier on the left and Anthony Rendon on the right: pic.twitter.com/iRJyyM6CwL
— Jesse Dougherty (@dougherty_jesse) April 17, 2019
Martinez added that he hopes the league further examines the behavior of Randazzo.
"So I can tolerate a lot of things," Martinez said. "Don't do that. I have a lot of respect for umpires - everybody knows that. I typically don't complain too much about them. But you know him walking towards our dugout when I'm in the dugout, I hope the league looks at that because like I said, I didn't say much to really get tossed. But he felt like I said enough."
Tuesday's ejection was just the second of Martinez's career as a manager.