MINNEAPOLIS – While bench coach Pat Murphy respectfully declined on Sunday to elaborate on the circumstances surrounding his ejection during the lineup exchange prior to Saturday’s game, a source with knowledge of the situation confirmed the dustup was indeed related to the Brewers’ unhappiness with the performance of home-plate umpire (and crew chief) Brian Gorman.
Gorman missed several obvious ball-strike calls in the game — most notably when he rang up Avisaíl García on a ball up and out of the zone in the eighth inning and then ejected him for arguing in the aftermath, and in the ninth during a Lorenzo Cain at-bat.
“It’s likely, yeah, that it had something to do with that,” Counsell said after the game Saturday. “That’s who the argument was with and Brian was the home-plate umpire. But I’m not sure what started it all.”
Murphy wasn’t the only member of the Brewers to be ejected Saturday, as first baseman Rowdy Tellez was tossed by home-plate umpire Jeremy Riggs after he struck out in the sixth inning.
All told, the Brewers have accrued 14 ejections this season. Counsell leads the way with four while Murphy and García each have two (Gorman also ran the rightfielder May 18 at Kansas City).
Hitting coach Andy Haines, Travis Shaw, Brett Anderson, Christian Yelich and Omar Narváez have also been ejected this season.
