Blue Jays Forced to Remove Ace From Game Early After Brutal Blunder by Manager
Blue Jays starting pitcher Alek Manoah saw his outing cut short on Saturday, by no fault of his own. In fact, his sixth-inning removal from the tightly contested game against the rival Orioles, stemmed from a mound visit from manager John Schneider.
After Schneider was seen briefly discussing strategy with Manoah and Toronto’s infielders, home plate umpire Dan Iassogna approached the mound to relay the fact that this was the Toronto’s second mound visit of the inning.
MLB prohibits managers from visiting the mound twice in an inning. The second mound visit in a single inning requires that a pitching change is made.
As a result of the gaffe from Schneider, Toronto was forced to remove Manoah from the game, which was tied 2–2 at the time.
Alek Manoah has to come out of the game after the second mound visit of the inning.
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Manoah was visibly frustrated when Iassogna informed the team of their mistake, but he could do nothing more than accept his fate and walk to the dugout. The 25-year-old had tossed just 85 pitches through 5 and 2/3 innings of work, surrendering two earned runs, six hits and one walk while striking out five prior to his removal.
In relief of Manoah, the Blue Jays turned to Tim Mayza, who needed just three pitches to escape the sixth, but it certainly complicated matters to have their starter’s outing ended so suddenly and unnecessarily.