Mark McGwire makes managerial debut after Padres' Andy Green is ejected
San Diego Padres manager Andy Green was ejected for the first time in his career following a bizarre series of events in the third inning Tuesday. And that resulted in Mark McGwire's managerial debut.
"It's not the way you want to get it, but I sort of had a feeling that once they switched the call that Andy was going to be upset," McGwire told the Padres' website.
Green lost his cool after the umpires called a balk on Padres right-hander Colin Rea in the third inning that allowed the Pittsburgh Pirates' Andrew McCutchen -- who was doing his best to distract Rea -- to score from third base. The umpires huddled and reversed the call, then were swayed enough after speaking with Pirates manager Clint Hurdle that they reversed their reversal. In the end, McCutchen scored, Green was tossed and McGwire took over.
McGwire inherited a 2-0 deficit but steered his squad to a 5-4 win, thanks to homers from Wil Myers, Derek Norris and Adam Rosales, and an error that allowed the go-ahead run to score.
San Diego had hit only nine homers in its first 13 games before going yard three times in two inning under Big Mac.
The next time the Padres are slumping, don't be surprised to see Green lose his cool.
