Mets manager Carlos Mendoza was ejected in the third inning of Monday's game vs. the San Diego Padres after arguing balls and strikes with home plate umpire Emil Jimenez.
Jimenez called Juan Soto out looking on a curve that got the outside part of the plate, and Soto immediately expressed his frustration with the call after his second strikeout of the day.
Mendoza then came out to defend Soto and was tossed. After the game, Mendoza made it clear that it's his responsibility to stand up for the players and he'll always do that for them.
"I got to be the one getting thrown out," Mendoza said. "I can't afford to [have players ejected], whether it's Soto or any of our players. I knew from the very beginning after a couple of calls early in the game that I needed to be on top of it.
"Whether it's Soto or anybody on our roster, I've got to go out there and protect them."
It's the third time Mendoza has been ejected from a game this season. Bench coach John Gibbons took over in his place for the rest of the game.
The pitch chart showed the second strike on Soto (fourth pitch of at-bat) was a bit outside, but the third strike did hit the outside edge of the zone. Later in the seventh inning, Soto struck out again on a high slider that was called a strike and stared back at Jimenez for a couple of seconds. Gibbons came out to say a few things to Jimenez, but there were no more ejections.
When asked about his thoughts on Jimenez behind the plate, Mendoza was to the point.
"He had a rough night, there's no way to sugarcoat it there," Mendoza said. "Especially when you're talking about a couple of at-bats there from Soto, some key at-bats. You're taking about one of the best hitters in the game, you're taking the bat away from him.
"I felt like that first at-bat, [Brandon] Nimmo struck out on three pitches that, you know, they weren't close. He just had a bad night."
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