Ben Zobrist Ejected for Telling Umpire That Players Want an Electronic Strike Zone

Ben Zobrist was ejected from Tuesday's game after arguing a called third strike.

Cubs utilityman Ben Zobrist was ejected from Tuesday's game after arguing with an umpire and saying players want an electronic strike zone, according to MLB.com.

During the sixth inning of the Cubs-Brewers matchup, Zobrist first expressed his feelings over a called third strike with homeplate umpire Phil Cuzzi. Manager Joe Maddon came out of the dugout to also argue the call and was tossed from the game.

Between the bottom of the eighth innning and the top of the ninth, Zobrist spoke to Cuzzi again about the called strike. That's when Cuzzi decided he had heard enough from Zobrist and ejected him.

"When you have a good quality at-bat as a hitter and you feel like it's taken away from you, you want some sort of answer—or you want to be assured that they'll make an adjustment, and that's what I asked for," Zobrist told reporters. "He didn't want to talk about that. He didn't want me to tell him that. I just basically said, 'That's why we want an electronic strike zone.' That's what obviously got me tossed."

Tuesday's ejection was the first in Zobrist's 13-year career.

Despite Cubs hitters holding a players-only meeting before Tuesday's game, Chicago fell 7-0 to the Brewers at Wrigley Field on Tuesday. While the Cubs (68-50) are sitting in first place in the NL Central standings, the Brewers (68-54) are only two games back and threatening Chicago's spot atop the division leaderboard.

The Cubs and Brewers wrap up their two-game series on Wednesday.