Kevin Gausman’s frustration mounted as his pitch count skyrocketed during the third inning against the New York Yankees. After throwing 53 pitches, the most by any pitcher in an inning in three years, and only recording two outs, Gausman expressed his dissatisfaction to plate umpire Chris Conroy.
“As I was coming off the mound, I kind of let him know I was going to go watch his bad umpiring inside,” Gausman explained following the Toronto Blue Jays’ 11-2 loss in the first game of a Sunday doubleheader. The defeat handed Yankees pitcher Max Fried his fifth consecutive win.
Gausman’s performance was rough: he gave up six runs and walked five batters, one shy of his career-high for walks in a game. He felt several pitches should have been strikes, adding, “There was probably at least three pitches that inning that I know were strikes.” He also pointed out the disparity in calls, frustrated by the strike zone as Yankees pitcher Max Fried was getting favorable calls, particularly low pitches.
Gausman’s anger was so intense that he slipped while walking down the dugout stairs after his ejection. Meanwhile, Blue Jays manager John Schneider was also tossed for arguing a strike call on Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the fifth inning. Schneider was still upset by the ball-strike decisions made earlier in the game, especially regarding Gausman’s pitches.
Gausman had started the game strong, retiring the first six Yankees players with just 18 pitches. However, the third inning turned into a marathon. The Yankees fouled off 15 of his pitches, including nine with two strikes. Yankees manager Aaron Boone praised the Yankees’ disciplined at-bats during the inning, saying, “If you should go start chasing Gausman and stuff, he’s too good and you got to be disciplined, and that inning was phenomenal.”
Gausman’s 53-pitch third inning was the most by any pitcher in a single inning since Cam Vieaux of Pittsburgh threw 56 pitches in a blowout against Milwaukee in 2022, according to Elias Sports Bureau. Gausman threw 50 fastballs compared to just 19 splitters during his 71-pitch outing, which raised his ERA from 3.16 to 4.50. He mentioned that he didn’t feel comfortable throwing his splitter, forcing him to try to pitch more carefully, which may have been to his detriment.
The Yankees’ offense came alive in the third inning. Oswaldo Cabrera and Ben Rice walked, and Aaron Judge hit a hard drive that short-hopped the right-field wall for a single, loading the bases. Cody Bellinger then tied the game with a sacrifice fly, and walks to Paul Goldschmidt and Jazz Chisholm Jr. pushed the Yankees ahead. Anthony Volpe also walked on nine pitches after falling behind 0-2, extending the lead to 3-1. Wells, who had fallen behind 0-2, then doubled off the right-center field wall on the ninth pitch of his at-bat.
Reflecting on the inning, Gausman pointed out missed opportunities, especially with two-strike fouls that he felt should have been strikeouts, adding, “There’s two that inning that kind of popped right out of Kirky’s glove.” Despite his frustrations, Gausman’s struggles were part of a larger pattern that contributed to the Blue Jays’ tough loss.
