Tampa Bay Rays' Zach Eflin Leads to Ejection, Warnings in Game vs. White Sox

Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Zach Eflin surrendered a home run to Chicago White Sox slugger Andrew Vaughn on Friday night. After that, he promptly hit Sox slugger Luis Robert. This led to both teams being warned and White Sox manager Pedro Grifol being ejected. You can watch the interaction here.

File this one under the 'baseball doesn't need this' category.

Baseball is looking to get rid of unwritten rules and the 'old way' of doing things, but frankly, I don't think this even applies to the old days.

So, Chicago White Sox slugger Andrew Vaughn hit a solo home run on Friday night off of Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Zach Eflin.

Immediately following that at-bat, Eflin plunked White Sox star Luis Robert.

This caused the White Sox dugout to react and both benches were warned. Then, White Sox manager Pedro Grifol was ejected from the game. He was ejected by home plate umpire Marvin Hudson, for the second consecutive game, nonetheless.

You can watch the interaction here:

Andrew Vaughn homers and Zach Eflin hits Luis Robert with his next pitch so both teams get warned

Chicago manager Pedro Grifol did not like that so he gets ejected for the second night in a row by the same umpire pic.twitter.com/pvVCRzbTCY

— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) April 28, 2023

Look, I can't tell you that Eflin throwing at Robert was intentional, but I certainly understand why the White Sox took exception to it. The pitch wasn't even close to the zone, and the White Sox are out to a dreadful start this season (7-19) and clearly are frustrated.

I don't blame them for that.

If this was intentional by Eflin, it's a weak attempt at retaliation. This is exactly the kind of thing that baseball is trying to get out of the game. I didn't even notice Vaughn react to the home run in a way that Eflin could be offended by.

At the time of this posting, the White Sox lead the Rays, 2-1, in the bottom of the third inning. In addition to the home run by Vaughn, the Sox have also gotten a home run from Jake Burger.