Reds manager David Bell ejected vs. Red Sox after umpire misses obvious strike call

David Bell was ejected for the 30th time in his career after the Cincinnati Reds manager was tossed during the top of the fourth inning in Sunday's series finale against the Boston Red Sox.

After Red Sox first baseman Dom Smith drew a questionable six-pitch walk, Reds starting pitcher Nick Lodolo was visibly frustrated with the home plate umpire. Bell, seeing what was beginning to materialize, took the focus off his pitcher and began barking at Todd Tichenor from the Cincinnati dugout.

Bell must have used some rather coarse or direct language, because Tichenor had an incredibly quick hook. The umpire swiftly tossed Bell, but not before the Reds' skipper got his money's worth. Bell stormed onto the field and made sure to give Tichenor a piece of his mind before exiting the field.

Reds manager David Bell ejected vs. Red Sox after umpire misses obvious strike call

While it may have appeared as though it was Smith's plate appearance that angered both Bell and Lodolo, more than likely it was the non-strike call to Red Sox's leadoff hitter Rafael Devers that drew the ire of the Reds' starter and manager.

Devers drew a six-pitch walk to leadoff the inning, but the would-be strike three was designated as ball four occurring to Tichenor. Replays showed that the ball was obvious in the strike zone and should have resulted in Devers returning to Boston's dugout. Instead, the next batter, Connor Wong, belted a two-run homer and put Cincinnati in an 0-2 hole.

This wasn't Tichenor's first bad miss. In fact, Lodolo had almost the exact same pitch called a ball during an a plate appearance in the first inning. Former Reds' minor league talent Rob Refsnyder drew a questionable seven-pitch walk with ball four looking to be in the strike zone.

The ejection was Bell's 30th during his career as the Reds' manager and locks him in a tie with Hall of Famer Sparky Anderson. It would seem as though this is a record that Bell will soon hold all alone — perhaps as early as Monday if the Reds' bats don't turn things around.

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