Giants manager ejected in third inning of 4-2 win over Rockies

San Francisco Giants manager Tony Vitello was ejected in the third inning of a 4-2 win over the Rockies on Saturday afternoon. The game began with a three-man umpiring crew less than 24 hours after a disputed catch-or-no-catch call. Vitello came out of the dugout twice within a few pitches to discuss rulings with the umpires.

The second visit resulted in his ejection. The first discussion followed a balk call on Giants pitcher Tyler Mahle that awarded the Rockies a run. The second discussion centered on whether a strike call should have been nullified by the balk.

“I wasn’t out there MFing anybody or anything like that,” Vitello said. “I was just trying to understand … how we could reverse back in time. ”

scoreboard discrepancy Mahle was called for a late balk after Brett Sullivan led off the inning.

Sullivan was awarded home, giving Colorado a 1-0 lead. The balk call came after Mahle had already delivered the pitch. The pitch Mahle was ruled to have balked on was nullified, but the scoreboard continued to show a 0-1 count.

A batter later believed he had struck out and returned to the dugout before being called back. “It was just a whole messed up situation,” Mahle said. “It was my fault. … I messed that up. The weird thing was they took a pitch away after they didn’t call a balk until later.

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The right-hander matched his longest start of the season. Luis Arraez recorded the Giants’ first hit against Rockies starter Kyle Freeland in the fourth inning.

Heliot Ramos singled to lead off the sixth, and Casey Schmitt followed with a three-run home run that gave San Francisco a 4-1 lead. The Giants close the first half with one more game against the Rockies on Sunday.