Umpire Ejects Orioles Grounds Crew in Ninth Inning of Yankees Game

Baseball is a game that has never been short on clichés. An old favorite states that you see something new every day at a baseball game. That might not always hold true, but it certainly was accurate at Wednesday night's game between the Yankees and Orioles at Camden Yards, where the universe pitted the weather, umpires and grounds crew on a collision course that resulted in an umpire ejecting the entire crew from the field.

It's unclear exactly what the grounds crew did to deserve the heave-ho—were they saying something to the players or umpire? Was their standing in foul territory a potential obstruction to the game? Did Tim Timmons have some kind of vendetta against them? The world may never know.

What happened next was very much in keeping with the Orioles' season. At the time of the ejection, Baltimore held a 3–2 lead with one out and two runners on in the ninth inning. Five pitches later, Brett Gardner served up a two-run single that gave the Yankees a 4–3 lead. The Orioles went down in order against Aroldis Chapman in the bottom of the ninth to secure their league-leading 99th loss of the season.

While Baltimore blew the lead and the grounds crew was shown the door, they might have ended up getting the last laugh as the rain began to pick up during Gardner's at bat. Finally after the ballgame had ended, the ever-dutiful grounds crew returned to the field, for they had a job to do.