NEW YORK (AP) — Mike Shildt had seen enough, and he was so angry with plate umpire Adrian Johnson that he made a spectacle by tossing his spectacles.
A tantrum by San Diego’s manager following the first major league ejection of star slugger Fernando Tatis Jr. fired up the Padres, who overcame a three-run deficit in the eighth inning to beat the New York Yankees 4-3 on a soggy Monday night and extend their winning streak to six.
“Shilty came down the tunnel and he was still chirping,” said Xander Bogaerts, who hit a go-ahead, two-run single off Luke Weaver that followed Manny Machado’s two-run double. “I think he was ready to fight.”
Tatis was ejected after a strikeout, causing Shildt to rush out onto the field, throwing his lineup card and then his glasses. He argued so vociferously with Johnson and first base ump Quinn Wolcott that third base coach Tim Leiper ran over in case intervention was needed.
“My glasses made it. I did have my head about me to make sure,” Shildt said after the game. “I got some — a lot of BPs on my shoulders — not as operable as I’d like but it came into play, and I made sure it stayed in the grass. I didn’t want them scratched. I like these glasses a lot.”
Devin Williams entered with a 3-0 lead and walked Tyler Wade with one out in the eighth, then allowed a single to Brandon Lockridge. Williams threw four straight changeups, his famous Airbender, to Tatis. The two-time All-Star took the third at the bottom of the strike zone for strike two, then swung over an even lower pitch.
He said something in Johnson’s left ear before taking a turn to the dugout and was immediately tossed. Tatis said it was his first ejection since winter ball as an 18-year-old.
“Ah, what did I say? I forgot,” Tatis said, laughing. “I’m just happy I got the boys hyped.”
“I’d just been complaining all game. It was a rough night,” he added. “After the strikeout I just let him know what I thought.”
San Diego’s players were invigorated by the emotion.
“You can feel it. It’s energy,” Wade said.
Three-time batting champion Luis Arraez then walked on four straight fastballs.
“Tatis made me hot,” Arraez said. “I love Mike Shildt. He supports his players, and when I saw that thing, I said: `We come back!’”
Yankees manager Aaron Boone brought in Weaver, who had not allowed a run in 13 prior appearances this year. Machado doubled on a 1-1 fastball, cutting the deficit to 3-2, and Bogaerts singled on a first-pitch cutter.
“Tati had some pitches that (he) didn’t agree with — I didn’t agree with earlier and made my comments from the dugout known, which I don’t do a ton,” Shildt said. “Did it. Walks away, hand over his mouth, and next thing you know he’s ejected walking away with his back turned for his first major league ejection.”
Shildt’s ejection was the 15th of his six-season big league managerial career.
“I probably have the fewest amount of player ejections in my time managing, so our players play, they stay in the game, they’re very respectful, rightfully so, to the umpires,” he said. “I’ll let the body of the work for the umpire grade speak for itself, and we’ll leave it at that.”
A two-time All-Star acquired from Milwaukee in December, Williams has a 10.03 ERA in 14 games with the Yankees, walking 10 in 11 2/3 innings. On a night with near-constant rain that caused a pair of 28-minute delays, Williams said he had trouble with his landing spot.
“I couldn’t figure it out with the release point on my fastball,” he said.
He had pitched three hitless innings in his three prior appearances since losing his closer role and felt he had turned around his season.
“I feel like I still have,” he said.
Yankees fans booed Williams as soon as he fell behind hitters.
“It’s part of the business. It’s part of being in New York,” said starter Carlos Rodón, booed during a poor first season with the Yankees in 2023. “If you don’t pitch well, you’re going to be get booed but if you pitch well, they’re going to praise you. They’re going to love you.”
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
