Tony Vitello has a charming personality, and his involvement with players has been commendable. Back in June 2023, when the Tennessee Volunteers baseball team defeated Southern Mississippi to advance to the College World Series, their then-manager Vitello celebrated with his players by sliding down the field, where they posed for pictures. That energy is still there even in the major leagues, and Wednesday was surely one such day.

San Francisco Giants faced a heartbreaking 10-9 defeat against the Cincinnati Reds. But more than the loss, Vitello’s tirade with the umpire in the first inning and an early ejection caught the limelight.

A 0-1 sweeper from the Giants ace Logan Webb went far beyond the strike zone, but the Reds’ Eugenio Suárez appeared to have swung, with runners on first and second and two outs. The umpire, though, called it a ball.

First-base umpire Ben May ruled that the Reds DH checked his swing on the pitch.

Vitello was certain it was a strike, as he started yelling, “Get it right!”

The next few minutes were the same script most MLB managers follow. Heated exchanges and the umpire waving his hands to toss them out of the dugout. Home-plate umpire Ryan Blakney did the same. Vittelo left the dugout, but not before giving it back a few.

“That’s a f****** swing. Blue, that’s a horrible call. You’re horrible,” Vittelo was heard screaming from the Giants’ dugout.

“No, we’re not gonna yell at him like that,” Blakney responded. “Alright, get out of here then.”

“For what? Because I said it, get right? This guy’s competing his f—— a– off,” Vitello was left frustrated.

The highlight looked like Suarez checked his swing at the very last moment, and May stood by his call. It triggered the Giants’ manager for losing a strike. Reports have now marked this back-and-forth as one of the most fiery on-field moments for the manager. Words so harsh that NBC Sports Bay Area hastily turned down the crowd-mic volume.

Reportedly, this was Vitello’s fourth career ejection. Here’s a recap of his previous two:

• April 5, 2026 vs New York Mets: He argued with plate ump Edwin Jimenez and third-base ump David Rackley in the 7th after they ruled out Jerar Encarnacion for running towards first base from inside the designated lane.
• July 11, 2026 vs Colorado Rockies: The ejection happened in the third inning after a controversial delayed balk call. Rockies third-base coach Andy Gonzalez pointed out a potential balk on pitcher Tyler Mahle to third-base ump Ryan Wills on a prior play. They ruled a delayed balk because Mahle didn’t declare whether he was throwing out of the windup. This decision allowed the runner at third, Brett Sullivan, to score the first run and wipe out a strike thrown to the batter. The SF Giants skipper argued about the sequence of this play and got tossed.
• July 22, 2026 vs Kansas City Royals: Vinnie Pasquantino started the 7th inning with a double into the right-field corner off Giants’ starter Landen Roupp. SF felt that Pasquantino came off the bag while sliding to second, and SS Willy Adames took advantage of the same, tagging him light and quick. But in a surprising turn of events, second-base umpire Mike Estabrook indicated a pushing sign, implying the play was dead because he felt Vinnie was pushed. Vitello argued and got ejected.

While in his 8 seasons as the head coach for Tennessee, he was ejected five times, including a four-game suspension in 2022; in his first big league season, the number already stands at four. Feels like New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone has a competition.

Despite being punished on Wednesday, he stood his ground after the game.

“The guys next to me were surprised,” Vitello shared. “I was just kind of in it. I thought he swung, so I said I thought he swung. … The attitude we play with is a reflection of us. We need to be hooked up, no matter who’s pitching. But we added more stress to that inning than we needed to, so maybe that was a factor. But I thought the guy swung. It’s part of my role to say if that’s what I thought. Then you can get into escalation or de-escalation.”

Per several studies, base umpires rule a check swing a strike on roughly 30% of appeals. That’s not a lot.

Surprisingly, Webb contradicted Vitello after the game.

“I didn’t know if [Suárez] swung or not,” Webb noted. “It definitely didn’t look like he swung. But [Vitello’s ]’s got our back. He’s got my back. I think he made his point when he was talking. He was like, ‘He’s working his [b—] off out there,’ talking about me.”

Despite praising his manager for standing up for him, Webb was uncertain about the check-swing. While the arguments didn’t go further, the loss would have a devastating impact on the Giants’ morale. For Vitello, more than the umpire’s call, his bullpen’s struggle may be deeper.

The Giants’ bullpen blew up the game once again

The Giants entered the ninth inning on Wednesday with a 9-3 score. At the end of the ninth, the final scoreboard showed 9-10. Yes, the Reds scored seven runs in the ninth and took away the game.

“I don’t really have a word for it; it’s more than unfortunate,” Vitello said, according to NBC Sports Bay Area’s Alex Pavlovic.

Neither do the fans.

There are examples of bullpen meltdowns in the late innings, but not like how the Giants gave up their 6-run lead.

The Giants kept reliever Spencer Bivens on the mound to close the game. It was an expected decision considering he had a scoreless eighth. However, the ninth started with Héctor Rodríguez launching a solo home run, making it 9-4.

Elly De La Cruz singled to right field.

Bivens then walked two consecutive batters (Sal Stewart and JJ Bleday) while throwing two wild pitches, completely loading the bases. The Giants pulled out Bivens and sent Dylan Smith to the mound.

A grand slam by Suarez greeted Smith, making the score 9-8. The Reds scored another two runs by loading the bases again.

“It’s tough; you want to go out there and perform every time you get the opportunity. Today just wasn’t my day,” Smith said. “I didn’t get ahead like I typically do, and obviously, the home-run pitch right there- he took advantage of that pitch. I wish I could have that one back.”

Ranking 11th in the NL Wild Card race, the team now has 0.0% probablity to make it to the playoffs. Per Baseball-Reference, they have been effectively eliminated from postseason contention.

Still, for Tony Vitello, such a loss in his very first MLB season may be demotivating.