WATCH: Walker Buehler, Alex Cora ejected for arguing balls and strikes

The third inning got quite heated at Fenway Park during Tuesday night's 2-0 Red Sox win over the New York Mets. Starting pitcher Walker Buehler and manager Alex Cora got ejected from the ballgame for arguing balls and strikes, long an automatic punishment.

However, the ejection was not without some controversy. Buehler can typically argue while literally on the mound, but appeared to get tossed because he left the mound and barked too closely at home plate umpire Mike Estabrook.

"He can say stuff from the mound. But once he comes off the mound, he's leaving his position to argue balls and strikes," reasoned the game's crew chief Laz Diaz in a statement for a pool report (via Chris Cotillo of MassLive). "Once anybody leaves their position to argue balls and strikes, that’s an immediate ejection."

The ruling seemed to cause a stir locally, because it appeared that Estabrook provoked Buehler by approaching him while he was still on the mound (i.e. remaining at his position). It was as if the ump baited Buehler into the ejection in the first place.

Buehler himself seemed to make such an argument, via X following the game: "Who cut the distance?"

In the end, the Red Sox were able to get the job done without Buehler and Cora, anyway. But the ejection was, expectedly, the talk of the game. Replacement manager Ramón Vázquez coached the Sox to victory with the bullpen for the second game in a row.

Luke Graham is a digital sports content co-op for 98.5 the Sports Hub. He is currently a sophomore at Northeastern University studying communications and media studies. Read all his articles here, and follow him on X @LukeGraham05.