Michael Kay had sharp criticism for Yankees’ Jazz Chisholm Jr. following ejection

Jazz Chisholm Jr. was not around for the end of the game on Tuesday, as his New York Yankees lost 5-4 to the Cincinnati Reds in 11 innings. Chisholm was ejected before the bottom of the ninth inning and his actions earned some sharp criticism from Yankees announcer Michael Kay.

The argument started during Chisholm’s at-bat in the top of the ninth inning. While Cincinnati’s Lyon Richardson’s 2-0 pitch to Chisholm was low, umpire Mark Wegner called it a strike. Chisholm eventually struck out and was quite annoyed in the New York dugout. The next hitter, Anthony Volpe, also struck out, ending the top half of the inning. Chisholm continued to argue as he took the field for the bottom of the ninth and was eventually tossed.

And while some announcers might focus more on the umpire’s actions, Kay was immediately critical of Chisholm.

“Jazz Chisholm just got thrown out, and really, he has nobody to blame but himself,” Kay said. “I know he didn’t like the call but he has been chirping at Wegner. Aaron Judge, between innings, walked him out to the field to try to calm him down. And he would not stop screaming at Wegner about that 2-0 pitch. And you always tell me, Paul, heat of the moment. But this is far after heat of the moment. He got himself thrown out, but Wegner gave him a lot of leash.”

“He did,” analyst Paul O’Neil said. “But you know, you get so frustrated as a player, you just want to vent. You’re not happy now. Obviously, you’re in a tie game and now you’ve put Aaron Boone in a situation where you need to go to your bench.”

“I was watching him between innings at third base,” Kay said. “He just kept repeating, ‘It wasn’t even close.’ And he’s right. It wasn’t. But you did have some time to cool off. And he took it out to the field. And he got thrown out…And if he’s gonna keep going, he’s gonna get suspended, too.”