Would Alex Wood allow frustration to get him tossed out of a game?
Alex would.
The Braves left-hander admitted as much after his ejection aided a Pittsburgh victory Sunday afternoon. He was thrown out by home plate umpire Mark Carlson after their interpretations of the strike zone clashed.
Wood's words to Carlson as he walked off the mound in the fifth inning resulted in his dismissal. He believed that opposing pitcher Gerrit Cole was receiving more favorable calls despite having hit Freddie Freeman and Andrelton Simmons with pitches.
"I thought [Cole] was getting some pitches throughout the game that we weren't," Wood told MLB.com. "Especially when you're sitting in the tunnel with the AC, watching it on the TV and when hitting myself.
"I got up there my first at-bat and [Cole] throws two that are below my knees, back to back, and [Carlson] rings me up on it. And then you throw two that are pretty close - one closer than the other - to Cole there that inning and [Carlson calls them balls]."
Wood had allowed three runs in the fifth before his forced removal.
"As I was walking away, I guess he decided that it was going to be good to throw me out of the game, which I didn't think was appropriate," Wood added. "I didn't try to show him up, didn't say anything to him during the inning, didn't even know I got tossed until I got up into the clubhouse."