Baltimore Orioles left fielder Ramon Laureano was ejected from the first game of a Wednesday doubleheader against Minnesota for slamming his bat and helmet down on the ground after striking out.
Laureano came up in the bottom of the sixth with two outs and a runner on first with the Twins leading 4-3. On the 3-2 pitch, Twins pitcher Brock Stewart threw a 94 mph fastball on the outside part of the plate. Laureano was sure it was ball four and took a step towards first base, but home plate umpire James Hoye called strike three. Laureano clearly did not agree with the call, as he tossed his bat up in the air and smacked it down on the ground, then slammed his helmet on the ground with both hands. Hoye wasted no time in tossing Laureano from the game, at which point he said "eff you" and stuck his finger in Hoye's face before heading to the locker room.
Safe to say the ump wasn't a fan of the equipment slamming pic.twitter.com/9cyFuZcfPa
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) May 14, 2025
The pitch call may have been borderline, but was not so egregiously bad to trigger such an angry reaction by Laureano. The precedent has been set in MLB that slamming your helmet will get you ejected. Looks like Laureano could use some anger management training, as this was not a good look.
Laureano was replaced by Heston Kjerstad for the remainder of the game, which the Twins won 6-3. He returned for the second game of the doubleheader, going 1-for-3, but the Twins won that game 8-6 to extend their winning streak to a league-best 10 games.
Moonlighting as a blogger to pursue my interest and enjoyment of sports. Former high school and Division I athlete (now a "retired" family man) that loves watching and discussing all sports. Follow me on Twitter (@HoldoutSports) and like Holdout Sports on Facebook.
