The Washington Nationals beat the New York Yankees 3-2 tonight in the nation's capital, but somehow the big story of the night was Bryce Harper and his manager Matt Williams getting ejected after arguing a strike call with home plate umpire Marvin Hudson in the third inning.
Harper objected to what looked like a low pitch being called a strike, Williams argued with Hudson from the dugout and after the umpire told Harper to get back in the batter's box, and Harper didn't immediately return, he was ejected.
At that point Williams was going to go too, but he let Hudson hear it first, and even went old school, kicking dirt on home plate before finally walking back to the clubhouse. Williams, still hot, was asked after the game if he could explain why Harper was ejected.
"I can't," Williams said. "I can't explain. I don't believe there's anything that warrants throwing him out of the game right there. He took the pitch. He disagreed with the call, he stepped back in the box, Marvin took his mask off and talked to me in the dugout. When he was done with that, then he motioned for Harp to get back in the box, he attempted to and he threw him out. That's what I saw.
"So I don't know if there's anything to warrant him being ejected. Doggone it, he's our best player and arguably the best player on the planet right now and we need him in the game and I don't feel as if there was any need to throw him out.
"That's why I went out and argued."
Williams was asked if Hudson even offered an explanation?
"Not at that time," he said. "I explained to him I didn't feel it was appropriate to throw him out of the game. At the point [at] which he took his mask off, Harp was back in the box, ready to see the next pitch.
"And I just don't feel it was warranted. So that's why I went out and argued it."
Asked what he said from the dugout, Williams explained, "I just felt the ball was down, the ball was low and I let him know I felt it was low and he was talking to me, he wasn't talking to Bryce. And then the next thing I know, Bryce is thrown out of the contest."
Asked if Hudson was baiting him, Williams said, "I'm not going to get into that. All I know is that he is arguably our best player right now and we want him in the ballgame and I don't feel as if was warranted to throw him out at that juncture."
Harper shared his own thoughts on the ejection when he spoke to reporters after the game:
Bryce Harper on Marvin Hudson: "I don't think 40,000 ppl paid to watch him ump." Asked why the quick trigger: "Maybe he had a bad morning."
— Dan Kolko (@masnKolko) May 21, 2015
Here's the long version of Harper talking about getting ejected by Marvin Hudson. pic.twitter.com/vki9omxWo1
— Andrew Simon (@AndrewSimonMLB) May 21, 2015