Muneniri Kawasaki ejected for arguing call at first base

BOSTON — Blue Jays infielder Munenori Kawasaki is almost always the happiest guy in the room, but there was a rare display of anger during Saturday night’s 4-2 victory over the Red Sox.

Kawasaki was ejected during the eighth inning for arguing a call with first-base umpire Eric Cooper. It was the first time this season that the fun-loving Kawasaki ever showed any type of frustration and it caught a lot of his teammates off-guard.

“I asked him if it was the first time getting kicked out and he said, ‘yeah,'” Blue Jays starter Mark Buehrle said. “He obviously got caught up in the moment and he thought he was safe. Just kind of reacting, I don’t think he meant to, but reaction I guess, you can’t really throw your helmet like that and expect to stay in the game.”

The play in question happened when Kawasaki hit a ground ball up the middle that was deflected by right-hander Ryan Dempster. Boston second baseman Dustin Pedroia then altered course and fielded the ball before making a short throw to first baseman Will Middlebrooks.

The 32-year-old Kawasaki was then called out on a close play at first by Cooper. Kawasaki immediately reacted in protest by slamming his helmet into the ground. Replays showed that he had a case and appeared safe on the play.

Blue Jays manager John Gibbons also ran onto the field to protest, but remained in the game after a brief dispute with Cooper. At the time there was a lot of anger, but after the game, Gibbons couldn’t help but laugh at how the whole thing unfolded.

“I thought he was safe, and I guarantee [Kawasaki] thought he was safe or he wouldn’t have done that,” Gibbons said. “I didn’t expect to see that out of him, but good for him.

“Those are tough calls, bang-bang … If he’s going to react like that he’s probably got pretty good beef.”

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