WATCH: Nationals Manager Dave Martinez Confronts Referee for a Controversial Interference Call

Published 10/30/2019, 7:58 AM EDT

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Washington Nationals manager Dave Martinez was ejected from the game 6 in the World Series after a controversial runner interference call against Houston Astros.

It was in the seventh inning that the ball rolled away from Gurriel, and Yan Gomes reached third base while Turner went to second, but plate umpire Sam Holbrook called Turner out for runner interference.

“For me, I mean, what else do you do?” Turner was quoted as saying by ESPN after the game. “I don’t know. The batter’s box is in fair territory. First base is in fair territory. I swung, I ran in a straight line, I got hit with the ball and I’m out. I don’t understand it.”

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“I feel like every year [this happens],” Turner said. “That happened to us against the Cubs [in the 2017 National League Division Series]. They came back and said that they got the rule wrong or something else should have happened.

“I said, ‘There is your man over there, he’s in charge of the umpires,'” Turner said, referring to Torre. “‘So if you want to get this cleared up, you should go to him.’ I don’t know all the protocol and whatnot, but I just want the game to be called correctly, whatever it is. Move on.”

The call wasn’t taken well by manager Martinez, who was seen becoming physical with the referees, and had to be held back by others. He was hence ejected from the game.

Martinez refrained to comment on the incident after the game when asked about it.

“I don’t want to sit here and talk about me or the umpires,” Martinez said. “This is not about me or the umpires. This is about the Washington Nationals and those guys in the clubhouse coming to Game 6 and playing lights out, knowing that this could be it. And I’m super proud of them.

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“In the heat of the moment things get blown out of hand. I saw things differently. I’m never going to criticize any umpires or anything, because they’re a big part of the game.”

The call was however backed by MLB’s chief baseball officer Joe Torre. Talking about it in the post game press conference, he said: “It’s a judgment call on the umpire,” Torre said. “Sam Holbrook made the call. It was the right call. Of course, then you watch Davey Martinez, and I can relate to that. When you wear a uniform, you know what you want to have happen, basically.”

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Written by:

Saketh Kandadai

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