It only took 13 games for Aaron Boone to earn his first ejection of the season.
On Wednesday night as his team trailed the Marlins by three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning, the Yankees’ manager was tossed after Alex Verdugo was called for a strike on a slider that looked to be outside and low.
Boone’s animated reaction from the dugout was enough to set home-plate umpire John Bacon off, sending Boone from the game that ended with a missed bases-loaded chance as his Yankees fell, 5-2 to the Marlins.
“A little bit,” Boone said when asked if he was surprised about the ejection following the Yankees’ third loss of the season. “Yeah, [it] felt quick.”
He didn’t believe there was a certain word or phrase that sparked the decision.
“I don’t think so,” he said. “Felt a little quick, again.”
Before heading to the clubhouse, Boone came out to say his piece about the call, which pushed the count to 1-2 and led to Verdugo striking out for the second time in the game.
The Bronx crowd sent boos through the Stadium.
Verdugo also had a heated moment with Bacon in the bottom of the fourth inning.
On the third-strike call, the outfielder lingered for a few moments to argue with Bacon and was visibly frustrated.
“You gotta stay locked in there. It was a tough night against him,” Boone said of Verdugo, who went 0-for-4 a night after hitting his first home run as a Yankee in The Bronx. “I thought it was a pretty good, well-called game, but Verdugo had some, I thought, ones that obviously went against him pretty bad in some key spots.
“It’s gonna happen every now and then. You just go to lock in as best you can.”
Boone is no stranger to an ejection over his seven years with the Yankees.
He held an AL-leading seven ejections last season and has accumulated 33 in his managerial career.
