Wrapping up a 3-2 loss and a controversial ejection

BOSTON - Orioles manager Buck Showalter referred to tonight's ejection of starting pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez as "professionally a little embarrassing," and he hopes that Major League Baseball will take action to make certain that it never happens again.

Plate umpire Jordan Baker tossed Jimenez after Pablo Sandoval was hit on the right shoulder with two outs in the fourth inning. It was Jimenez's first career ejection and it didn't sit well with the Orioles, who lost 3-2 on Xander Bogaerts' first career walk-off hit in the ninth inning.

Crew chief Jerry Meals said Baker determined that the Orioles were retaliating for Sandoval's hard slide into second baseman Jonathan Schoop in the second inning.

"First of all, Jordan felt that there was intent on the pitch, and the location of the pitch was a major factor, and what fueled that was Pablo running to second base earlier in the game, second inning I believe it was. It looked as if, to Jordan, that the Orioles took exception to his hard slide," Meals said to a pool reporter.

Baker didn't issue a warning.

"Because, again after they showed the replay on the board, Jordan saw the Orioles dugout, and it seemed they reacted to the slide, and then Pablo's next at-bat, first pitch to him, fastball in," Meals said. "It's close to the head, it was a dangerous pitch, so it's an automatic. You can give a warning if you prefer to, but he felt it's an ejection.

"I just told Buck, 'He's doing his job back there, get me a pitcher,' and we just talked for a few minutes about different things. It was nothing in particular."

Showalter was clearly upset while speaking to reporters, though he did his best to remain composed.

"That's the way we play, they play, you inspire both teams to play," Showalter said. "It wasn't even a thought. Ubaldo the first time up, you try to pitch guys in that get their arms extended and are strong. We threw I think three fastballs. We tried to go in the first time up. It's kind of professionally a little embarrassing to see that type of thing have such an impact."

Kevin Gausman gave up a game-tying, two-run homer to Ryan Hanigan in the fifth. Showalter was forced to use Darren O'Day earlier than normal, and Tommy Hunter allowed Bogaerts' walk-off bloop single after Brian Matusz walked leadoff hitter Mike Napoli.

"It just puts our bullpen in a challenge for the rest of this road trip or for a while, because we had to pitch people in situations where they shouldn't have been pitching," Showalter said. "Darren and Brian were the only two guys who had the proper rest. It's unfortunate it impacted the game that much. Ubaldo had good stuff. You could tell he had the chance to pitch deeper in that game. But we didn't score very many runs. They did a good job pitching also.

"MLB will look at it and hopefully take some action to make sure it didn't happen again, something like that impact the game that much. It's sad that it did. My biggest thing is the bullpen and what we had to do there. Everybody aspires to play that game. We welcome it. We do it. We applaud people that do it. That's the way you want the game played. Every time somebody gets hit with a pitch, it's not intentional. And every time somebody slides hard, that's what you're supposed to do. Nobody gets mad. A lot of times you say, 'I know what it looks like,' but this time, no, not at all."

Showalter said Schoop didn't take exception to the slide.

"He welcomes that because he's really good at it," Showalter said. "He'll do the same thing when he's running. That's why you play second base in the big leagues. We all expect those things. He welcomes that kind of challenge."

The Orioles may be forced to make a roster move.

"We're going to shake it around a bit," Showalter said. "We wouldn't have, but now we'll have to look at it."

Jimenez said he was "shocked" at the ejection.

"You don't see that happen every day without any warning, without any history with the player. First game of the series against Boston. There's no history, there's nothing. He's a good hitter and I am trying to go inside. Especially against a left-handed hitter, you aren't trying to go down, you are trying to go up. I had three walks. It's not like I had perfect command of my fastball. I was shocked.

"That's the thing, he didn't give me a chance to react or anything. Without any warning. There's no history, I'm cool with Pablo outside of baseball. You can ask him. It's part of the game, trying to make pitches inside and seeing them get away.

"It wasn't in the head. If I hit him in his head, that's a thing you might say, 'OK, it looked like it was on purpose.' But it was in the shoulder, you don't pitch left-handed hitters like Pablo down and in."

Jimenez knows the ejection came because Baker thought he was retaliating for the hard slide.

"That's what I guess because there was nothing else," he said. "If you think about something like that, at least give a warning. I mean, without history there's not anything and he threw me out of the game.

"The most it hurts is the bullpen. We still have three more games with these guys and to go to Toronto. That's the toughest thing that's coming out of that game."

Catcher Caleb Joseph had no idea what was happening.

"I was surprised, I was shocked," he said. "As soon as it hit him, my mind shifted straight to the next batter. I didn't think twice about it. And then the immediate reaction is to try to figure out why that happened. But I was shocked.

"I don't think he had given up a hit, right? He pitched really well his first outing and it looked like he was kind of on the same track this outing. It's not an excuse. We're not going to sit here and say that's the reason we lost, but when you've got to go to the bullpen that early, especially with a starter who's doing really well, it's unfortunate. But it's part of the game. I just think a lot of us were really shocked.

"We're trying to keep guys safe and I understand what they're trying to do. I had a pitch at my head last year, so we appreciate the safety aspect of it, but I think what was deemed on purpose just wasn't on purpose this time. It's just unfortunate."

Joseph was asked whether Jimenez would have stayed in the game if the pitch hadn't come close to Sandoval's head.

"I have no idea. You'd have to ask (Baker)," he said. "I was just so shocked. It could hit him in the toe and I don't know what would have happened. I was just shocked at what happened. We were trying to figure out what happened because as soon as it hit him, my mind went straight to the next hitter, and then I saw the heave-ho and I could not believe what had just happened.

"I know probably there's not one guy in this clubhouse who thought twice about that (slide). It was a slow developing play and he's trying to race to second to be safe. That's part of the game. They play it hard and we play it hard. It could be, but at the end of the day I think we were all pretty surprised."

Hunter went with "shocked."

"Kind of odd, but whatever," he said. "You've got to deal with it. They write the rules and we just play the game."

Hunter entered the game with a 14.73 ERA in 3 2/3 innings over four games. His luck is going so badly, the winning hit against him came on a ball that wouldn't have broken glass.

"It's one of those ones you've got to swallow and move on, because this game moves pretty quick and we've got to get over it and come out and throw it again tomorrow," he said.

The bullpen has been scored upon in all 10 games, with the Orioles going 5-5.

"I think we're a pretty confident group," he said. "Balls are landing and some of it is just unfortunate. And the other part is leaving a ball up here and leaving a ball up there. We're 10 games into the season. I don't think it's any time to push a panic button and anything like that. Just keep going, keep plugging away."