Philadelphia Phillies' Jonathan Papelbon: Send umpire "to Triple-A"

Philadelphia Phillies closer Jonathan Papelbon disagreed with umpire D.J. Reyburn's calls Monday night. Here, he talks with Reyburn's crew mate Derryl Cousins.

Philadelphia Phillies closer Jonathan Papelbon disagreed with umpire D.J. Reyburn's calls Monday night. Here, he talks with Reyburn's crew mate Derryl Cousins. (Hunter Martin/Getty Images)

Philadelphia Phillies closer Jonathan Papelbon gave up the go-ahead run in his team's 4-3 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday night after what he thought was a missed call. After the game, he had strong words about the work of umpire D.J. Reyburn, a minor league ump filling in for the night, according to multiple reports.

"I thought he sucked," Papelbon said

according to

USA Today

's story

on his comments. "He probably needs to go back to Triple-A. You're up in the big leagues to do a good job and when you don't do a good job you should be demoted or fired. It's just like anybody's job. If I don't do my job, I go down to Triple-A. There's no room for that up here.

"It's not a knock on the umpires. It's the integrity of the game. You want to be able to go out there and play the game the way it should be played. All night long, from [Dodgers starter Clayton] Kershaw to [Phillies starter] Vance [Worley], all the way to the ninth inning, it affected the outcome of the game."

Papelbon's problems with Reyburn stem from Dee Gordon's plate appearance in the ninth inning. The closer thought his fourth pitch in the at-bat should have been strike three. Reyburn called it a ball. On the next pitch, Gordon drilled a triple, and he scored the winning run later in the inning.

When Papelbon tried to speak with Reyburn after the inning, the umpire would not listen, and veteran umpire Derryl Cousins jumped in to stop Papelbon.

"I just wanted to ask him if he could throw me out for what I was thinking,'' Papelbon said. ''He was terrible all night."