Red Sox Notes: Walker Buehler, Alex Cora Reflect On Double Ejection Meltdown
BOSTON — Red Sox pitcher Walker Buehler and manager Alex Cora were front and center for the most chaotic moment of the season, thus far, during Tuesday night’s 2-0 victory over the Mets at Fenway Park.
Buehler was activated from the 15-day injured list and returned to the mound for the first time since April 26. The team was hoping he’d log a quality start to get back in rhythm, but in the third inning, all hell broke loose with home plate umpire Mike Estabrook, who partook in a shouting match with Buehler before ejecting the 30-year-old.
The pitch in question was a clear-as-day missed strike call, thrown just before Red Sox catcher Carlos Narváez gathered in an attempt to gun down New York’s Francisco Lindor, stealing second base. Buehler offered some choice words, Estabrook fired back and Cora, too, got tossed trying to defend Buehler.
“Obviously, I put (the bullpen) in a really tough spot off of a day that we asked a lot out of them, so I’ve been in this league too long for that to happen,” Buehler said. “For me personally, it’s one of those things that you’re very conflicted in how you feel, very convicted in what I felt and saw. But at the same time, this is a team game and something I let get out of hand, and personally, that’s the disappointing part of it.”
It wasn’t the ideal situation for the Red Sox to navigate. Just 24 hours ago, bench coach Ramón Vázquez filled in for Cora as the team’s acting manager, and four relief pitchers logged appearances to help snag a series-opening win. This time, six bullpen arms contributed — Brennan Bernardino, Garrett Whitlock, Justin Wilson, Greg Weissert, Justin Slaten and Aroldis Chapman — to seal the deal.
Granted, the Red Sox had no other choice. With Buehler gone early, the team had to turn to its bullpen crew, and for the second straight instance against the Mets, Boston’s relief arms delivered. The six-man unit held New York’s offense, which ranks seventh in MLB in slugging percentage (.412), scoreless. Lindor, Juan Soto and Pete Alonso combined to go 2-for-10, and the Mets only mustered up four hits in total.
Cora, too, had just returned from a brief one-day absence to attend his daughter Camila’s graduation from Boston College on Monday night, and the seven-year skipper had already gotten thrown into the fire of a tense situation.
“It was weird, they were going back and forth,” Cora said. “I don’t know what the exchange was, but I’ve been doing this for a few years. I was begging just to give him a break, like, ‘I’ll go out and you can throw me out, just keep the pitcher in the game.’ But I guess (Estabrook) had enough. I don’t know why. At that point, I had to go too. But initially it was a good day for us without me, so I decided to do it again.”
Cora continued: “I don’t want to make excuses, but it looked very aggressive. But he’s the umpire. We have to respect that and move on.”
Ultimately, the Red Sox did their job despite the untimely circumstances that arose. Boston will go for the series sweep on Wednesday night before hosting the division-rival Baltimore Orioles for a four-game series to close out the homestand.
Here are more notes from Tuesday night’s Red Sox-Mets game:
— When asked about the confrontation with Estabrook, Buehler refrained from getting into the specifics and further expressed regret for the entire feud.
“I’m not gonna talk about what he did or didn’t do,” Buehler said. “I don’t think it’s my place, obviously. Those guys don’t get interviewed, and we do. So I’m not gonna talk about this side of it. It kind of spiraled a little bit, and I said some things that I probably shouldn’t have, and whatnot. At the end of the day, putting our team in a position like that is the only thing that really hurt that situation.”
— Cora unintentionally broke the team’s bullpen phone in the dugout, which pitcher Tanner Houck used as a rally prop to help energize the group.
“It hurt, too, by the way,” Cora mentioned.
— Red Sox catcher Carlos Narváez did everything to intervene midway through the third-inning madness, but both Buehler and Estabrook were adamant about where they stood.
“That was so quick. I ran to the mound, trying to get Buehler to calm down a little bit,” Narváez recalled. “… I saw the pitch, it was in the strike zone. I was in motion to throw to second, so probably the umpire didn’t see really good.”
— Rafael Devers and Narváez both belted solo home runs, pushing the Red Sox to 51 round-trippers hit across their last 34 games. That’s the second-most in MLB through that span, right behind the New York Yankees (54).
— Cora notched his 18th career ejection as a manager, the first since 2024, and Buehler tallied his second, the first since 2021 (also against the Mets).
— Boston improved to 25-25 with the victory.
— The Red Sox will look to go three-for-three in Wednesday night’s series finale with the Mets. First pitch from Fenway Park is scheduled for 6:45 p.m. ET, and you can catch the game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, live on NESN.