Derek Shelton Explains Ejection After Loss to Reds

Derek Shelton Explains Ejection After Loss to Reds

The Minnesota Twins have hit a rough patch at the wrong time, and their manager got tossed in the middle of it.

Saturday's 5-4 loss to the Cincinnati Reds at Target Field was Minnesota's second straight one-run defeat, dropping the Twins to 11-10 on the season after a stretch where they had won eight of nine games.

The Reds improved to 13-8 and have quietly become one of the better teams in the National League.

But the scoreboard wasn't the only story.

Twins manager Derek Shelton was ejected in the top of the seventh inning after a check-swing call that went in favor of Elly De La Cruz, and the way it went down clearly bothered him.

What Happened on the Field

With the Twins still up 4-2, reliever Kody Funderburk hit a batter to put two runners on with two outs.

On a 1-1 pitch to De La Cruz, first base umpire Hunter Wendelstedt ruled that De La Cruz held up on his swing, giving him ball two.

Minnesota's dugout did not agree. One pitch later, De La Cruz lined an RBI single to make it 4-3, and seconds after the hit, home plate umpire Nic Lentz ejected Shelton.

Shelton's Side of the Story

After the game, Shelton said the ejection was a misunderstanding and that his frustration was aimed at the bench, not at any umpire.

"I'm pretty sure you were watching the game... it was a check swing... I argued the call," Shelton said. "I didn't have my head down when I made the comment I made and he evidently thought I was making the comment at him but I had my head down. I was not looking at any umpire after I made it... when I made the comment I made I had my head down. So I've been ejected a lot of times and in that one I was not directing anything at anything except frustration down at our bench."