Projo Sox Blog

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Perhaps the most miraculous number to come out of the Angels 5-0 victory over the Red Sox was the number of ejections: 0.

Considering all that Angels manager Mike Scioscia and Red Sox manager Terry Francona had to complain about, it's stunning that neither they nor Sox starting pitcher Jon Lester was tossed from the game. The pair of managers went out to argue five times between them, and despite making themselves hoarse shouting and arguing, somehow both survived the game.

They had reason to be mad.

First base umpire CB Bucknor appeared to miss no less than three calls on plays at first base: two that allowed Angel runners to reach base safely when they should have been called out, and one that took away a deserved Los Angeles runner at first.

Meanwhile, Lester and home-plate umpire Joe West stared each other down after Lester failed to get a strike call he wanted on Torii Hunter in the third inning.

Amazingly, few of the plays had an impact on the game, with most of the runners quickly erased.

Francona was out on the field twice, the first time in the fourth inning when Alex Gonzalez made a slick play on a Howie Kendrick grounder but threw wide of first baseman Kevin Youkilis, pulling him off the bag. Youkilis appeared to tag Kendrick as he went by, but Bucknor called Kendrick safe. Youkilis was incredulous, and Francona more so, but Bucknor was unmoved.

"He said I tagged him, but he said [Kendrick] was on the base when I tagged him. And I didn't think that was possible," Youkilis said.

The Red Sox then got a break on what seemed like a make-up call the next inning, when Chone Figgins was called out on a bunt attempt at first. Jon Lester threw wide of Dustin Pedroia, who leapt up to grab the ball and then back down to touch the bag -- but it appeared Figgins had reached base first. Scioscia came out to argue that one, but returned to the dugout without a problem.

Kendrick was then involved in another disputed call, on a Mike Lowell throw that sailed high. Youkilis leaped to grab the throw, successfully speared the ball, and stabbed his foot onto the base before Kendrick arrived -- but Bucknor called him safe again. Again, neither Youkilis nor Francona could believe his eyes, and Francona let Bucknor have it before heading back to the dugout.

Youkilis was calm about the plays after the game, mostly because they didn't factor into the loss.

"I thought they both were out. CB disagreed, so we move on, go from there," Youkilis said. "It's not a big deal anyway, they had nothing to do with us losing, so I don't really worry about it."

"I didn't think he got the call right," was all Francona would say of it.

Crew chief West said that all three plays were difficult calls, and that Bucknor was in the right position to make the right decisions.

"They were three bang-bang plays at first base. It seemed like two of them went against the Red Sox, one of them went against the Angels. I mean, they're all bang-bang plays. From where I was, it's the kind of play, they hit the bag at the same time," West said.

"He was there to make the call. It didn't appear that any of them were real routine plays, either. Those were all tough plays. They were all bang-bang plays. And tomorrow, there are going to be some more. These two guys always go at it, and that's the way it's going to be," West continued.

West looked at the replays again postgame, and he didn't appear to jump to Bucknor's defense when asked about what he saw on those second viewings.

"Well, I had my impression. And you see them, you're going to have yours. They were bang-bang plays. The guys were pulled off the bag on all three of them. I'm going to tell you, from my heart, I think he was in the best position he could be," West said.

Scioscia made the jog out to argue three times: first to argue a catcher's interference call that allowed Jacoby Ellsbury to reach base safely in the third, next to complain about the play where Figgins was out in the sixth, and then once more in the seventh when it was unclear whether Mike Lowell had made the tag on Torii Hunter on a double play at third.

Lester and West also got into it, disagreeing over West's strike zone. Lester appeared to shout something unhappily after he walked Hunter, complaining about a 2-2 pitch that he believed West had incorrectly called a ball. West stared long and hard at Lester as the pitcher walked off the field following the inning.

Lester acknowledged that it was a strange night of umpiring, but appeared sympathetic to the problems.

"It was, but that's what happens in baseball. A call can sometimes affect the game, but they're doing the same thing we are. They're out there busting their butt to do the right thing and sometimes they get it right and sometimes they get it wrong. It's part of the human element of baseball," he said.

West also appeared to miss a ball-four call on Youkilis that would have loaded the bases for the Red Sox in the sixth. Instead, Youkilis grounded out, ending Boston's best chance against John Lackey all night.

 Tags  Dan Barbarisi David Ortiz Jon Lester Kevin Youkilis Terry Francona

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