Blue Jays $110M star goes viral over clumsy moment after ejection in game against Yankees

The Toronto Blue Jays faced the New York Yankees in a doubleheader on Sunday. All-Star pitcher Kevin Gausman started the first game of the doubleheader for Toronto.

It was a strong start from the two-time All-Star as he kept the Yankees scoreless in the first two innings. However, things went downhill from there for Kevin Gausman as he conceded six runs in the third, allowing five walks.

Blue Jays manager John Schneider removed the ace in the third inning. Gausman, before walking to the dugout, had a fiery exchange with the home plate umpire which led to his ejection from the game.

Gausman was still frustrated with some of the calls from the umpire and while he was gesturing to the umpire from the dugout, the Blue Jays ace tumbled down the steps. The clip of his stumble went viral on social media, culminating in a day to forget for the All-Star ace.

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The Blue Jays starter, who is on a $110,000,000 contract, threw 53 pitches in the third inning, tied for the most pitches in an inning by a Toronto pitcher. It was also the most pitches thrown by an MLB pitcher in an inning since Cam Vieaux threw 56 in July 2022.

Blue Jays pitcher reflected on his ejection against Yankees

Kevin Gausman faced five Yankee batters and allowed two walks with the bases loaded in a nightmare third inning. However, the Blue Jays ace was not pleased with plate umpire Chris Conroy's calls on his pitches.

“As I was coming off the mound, I kind of let him know I was going to go watch his bad umpiring inside,” Gausman said. "There was probably at least three pitches that inning that I know were strikes."

Gausman alleged that his opponent, Max Fried, who pitched six innings with just one earned run, got favorable calls on similar pitches.

"The more frustrating thing was watching kind of what (Yankees starter Max Freid) was getting," Gausman added. "He’s getting pitches down, and so if you’re not calling it for me, why are you going to call it for him?”

The six-run inning from the Blue Jays All-Star helped the Yankees to a commanding 11-2 win in the first game on Sunday. The Bronx Bombers followed it with a 5-1 win in the second game to take the series.

About the author

Chaitanya Prakash is an editor who covers US Sports at Sportskeeda. His first brush with sportswriting was in 2012 when the greatest football manager of all time, Sir Alex Ferguson, bid farewell to the beautiful game.

Although having started out professionally as a cricket writer in 2022, Chaitanya's curiosity and indiscriminate interest in all sports in general eventually introduced him to America's favorite pastime.

While Chaitanya's favorite player from the current crop is the dynamic Venezuelan Ronald Acuna Jr., his all-time favorite, however, is Pedro Martinez, for his self-belief and consistency. He also rates Jose Bautista's iconic bat flip in 2015 as his favorite moment in baseball history.

Chaitanya specializes in reporting on technical aspects of the game or analyzing patterns behind specific plays. He also likes pondering over players' self-assessments following the conclusion of a game as it helps him get an idea of how they think about the sport in general.

When not cheering for his favorites across sports, Chaitanya likes being transported to the past through a good war documentary or a historical documentary in general.

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Edited by Chaitanya Prakash