JUPITER, Fla. (AP) — Lance Lynn was ejected from his first spring training start in his return to the St. Louis Cardinals after having words with home plate umpire Ángel Hernández on Friday night.
The pitcher was then told to leave the bullpen after throwing a few more pitches following his outing against the Washington Nationals.
There was one out in the third inning, which was scheduled to be the last frame for Lynn, when he was ejected.
According to MLB.com writer John Denton’s posts on X, Lynn said Hernández “started chirping at the (Cardinals) dugout and I told him, ‘They know it was a strike.’ He told me, ‘Let’s go!’ And I told him, ‘I have five seconds on the pitch clock and I’ll start whenever I feel like it’. … I threw the next pitch and I was like, ‘There’s a strike!’ And then it was ‘see you later.’’
Lynn allowed four runs on three hits and three walks in a combined two innings of work. He had two strikeouts while throwing 25 of his 44 pitches for strikes.
Lynn threw 27 pitches in the first inning, when he got only two outs and had all three of his walks. The final walk came with the bases loaded. He then gave up a three-run double and left the game temporarily. Lynn returned to pitch the second inning and retired the only batter he faced in the third before his ejection.
Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol also got ejected. Lynn waved at the crowd as they walked together through the outfield toward the clubhouse.
Lynn was part of a World Series title with the Cardinals as a rookie in 2011 and played his first six big league seasons with the team that drafted him. He played with five other teams the past six years before re-signing with St. Louis in November.
The 36-year-old right-hander is guaranteed $11 million as part of the deal, getting $10 million this season with a $10 million team option for 2025 that includes a $1 million buyout.
Hernández, who was hired as a big league umpire in 1993, has been controversial on the field at times. He had three calls at first base overturned by video reviews during Game 3 of the 2018 AL Division Series between the New York Yankees and Boston.
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