Tony Vitello is climbing the ejections list quickly this week, getting tossed twice in three days and giving the San Francisco Giants' manager five overall, tied for second most in the league.
Are umpires showing less patience with Vitello, who has no previous pro experience, than they are with other managers? He appeared to do little to earn an ejection in the Giants' 10-6 loss to the Diamondbacks on Friday night at Oracle Park, while home-plate umpire Alan Porter, who tossed him, was in the midst of a tough night - Porter had nine ball-strike calls overturned on challenges, and also called a clear third strike a ball in the third, keeping Lars Nootbar alive for a double that started Arizona's five-run inning.
Vitello may have earned his ejection Wednesday against the Reds when he disputed a check-swing call a little more strenuously, but he seemed to do no more than yell that Nolan Arenado's double to left in that third inning was foul along with a gesture indicating by how much.
The play was not reviewable - third-base umpire Alex MacKay ruled the ball was fair when it traveled over the bag and anything in front of the base umpires is not eligible for a review. But that doesn't mean Vitello didn't get a report from the Giants' video replay review room. The double put two on for Tim Tawa's homer to left center.
Vitello didn't appear to swear or insult the umpires when disputing the fair call, but once he was ejected, he charged out and made his feelings known to Porter, first appearing to say, "Why? What for?"
After Porter tossed Vitello, Giants starter Logan Webb, a non-participant, also was ejected, and he was clearly upset with the call and the crew both, pointing toward Porter and MacKay with some colorful verbiage.
Players appreciate when the manager sticks up for them, and Vitello did so on Wednesday - Webb was the man on the mound for the disputed check-swing call and Vitello made it clear to that crew and in his comments after the game that he was backing his pitcher.
On May 3 at Tampa Bay, when director of pitching Frank Anderson, Vitello's pitching coach at Tennessee, was ejected after the crew botched the call on a ball that was hit off the catwalk, umpire Hunter Wendelstet said, "Who do you think you are?" to Anderson and the Giants complained that the umpires had mocked Vitello and Anderson for their college baseball background with remarks about pom-poms and rah-rah.
There is a strand of thought that managers showing some intensity and getting tossed helps teams, but it's not showing up in the Giants' results on the given day: The team is 1-4 in the games in which Vitello has been tossed.
Friday night, the offense had some good moments, with Bryce Eldridge homering in the first and providing an RBI double in the third, and Christian Koss hitting his first homer of the season, a two-run, two-out drive down the left-field line in the fourth.
The pitching didn't enjoy its best night. Blade Tidwell gave up a leadoff homer to Nootbar, a two-run shot to Corbin Carroll after a Nootbar double in the third. The rookie gave up seven hits and six runs in his five innings two starts after also allowing six runs, but that was a night he had some back stiffness and walked five as a result.
Spencer Bivens had another rough outing two days after the Giants' historic loss to the Reds. Bivens loaded the bases to open the ninth inning of that one - the Reds came back from six runs down - and Friday he allowed five hits, a walk and four runs in two innings.
Here was a nice bit of the evening on the pitching side: Braxton Roxby made his big-league debut, with his wife and parents in attendance, and he worked a 1-2-3 ninth that included getting Tawa looking to end the inning.
Roxby, 27, is the first player in major-league history from the University of Pittsburgh-Johnston. The Giants acquired him from the Reds last year for Taylor Rogers but he wasn't high on the team's radar until a combination of trades and injuries left the bullpen thin. On Friday, he threw 17 pitches, including 12 strikes. Given that the Giants are putting a major emphasis on strike throwing, he might get himself quite a few more looks.
SubscribeThere’s more to San Francisco with the Chronicle. Subscribe today for just 25¢.This article originally published at Giants' Tony Vitello ejected again during loss to Diamondbacks.
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