What happened to Ryne Stanek? Wild pitcher rant results in Astros loss vs Dodgers

Ryne Stanek was ejected from the game against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday after he protested a blatant call by an official for a balk. The Houston Astros eventually lost 8-7 to LA after the call resulted in a go-ahead RBI walk.

The incident occurred in the eighth innings with Ryne Stanek on the mound. On a 2 outs 3-2 situation facing David Peralta, a balk was called on the Astros pitcher by the second plate umpire Junior Valentine for apparently pretending to pitch.

As per MLB rules, a balk results in an automatic deadball situation with each baserunner progressing a base.

That drove in the go-ahead 8th run as pinch runner Jonny DeLuca was stationed in third base. Ryne Stanek immediately questioned the call as he turned around to argue with Valentine. As the batter generally remains at the box, the at-bat continued as Peralta was walked.

Stanek then struck out Michael Busch in seven pitches to end the innings. Heading to the dugout, the Astros pitcher gave the official a mouthful. He was very animated, leading to his pitching coach Josh Miller running out of the bench to take him away. Even home plate umpire Manny Gonzalez had to intervene.

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Ryne Stanek explains his mound movements after the game

After the game, Ryne Stanek elaborated on the situation. He said that he had no intention of deceiving any runner on base from pitching and was simply stepping out of the mound to regain his composure.

“He said I moved my leg, which was pretty obvious because I stepped off the mound. Beyond that, I wholeheartedly disagree,” Stanek said.

“A balk is intentionally trying to deceive a runner. At what point was I trying to deceive a runner? I hadn’t even come set yet. I literally was just stepping backwards.”

The game ended in the very next half-inning, with the Astros having no answer for Dodgers reliever Evan Phillips as they took the second game of the series to extend their win streak to four.