Braves' Kevin Gausman ejected for throwing behind Marlins' Jose Urena in first meeting since Ronald Acuna Jr. plunking
Urena drilled Acuna last August
Last August 15, Marlins righty Jose Urena created some headlines by drilling Braves wunderkind Ronald Acuna Jr. with the first pitch of his start. Acuna was in the middle of a five-game homer streak and had gone deep four times in the first three games of that series.
Urena was ejected immediately after hitting Acuna and he was later suspended six games. As you could imagine, the Braves were not happy. Here's what Kevin Gausman said following that game:
#Braves' Gausman: "I think he [Ureña] decided he was going to handle it a certain way. I don’t agree with it, but it’s his career and he’s going to have to deal with the consequences."
— David O'Brien (@DOBrienATL) August 16, 2018
On Friday, Urena made his first start against the Braves since drilling Acuna, giving the Braves their first shot at retaliation. As luck would have it, Gausman was on the mound Friday night, and he wasted no time delivering a message. His first pitch to Urena was behind him.
Home plate umpire Jeff Nelson immediately ejected Gausman even though warnings were not issued. Here's video of the purpose pitch. This looks clearly intentional:
This is the pitch to (or behind) Jose Ureña that got Kevin Gausman ejected.
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) May 4, 2019
(via @FOXSportsBraves) pic.twitter.com/3X427dYHFU
For the conspiracy theorists among us, I will note the Braves called up right-hander Touki Toussaint prior to Friday's game. He is a starter by trade and he replaced Gausman following the ejection. It's almost -- almost -- like they called up a long man knowing Gausman would throw at Urena and possibly get ejected. Hmmm.
Given the history and the obvious intent, Gausman surely has a suspension coming his way, even without hitting Urena. Intent matters more than outcome. Six games is the usual suspension for a starting pitcher in these situations. That ensures (in theory) he will miss one start.
















