CHICAGO – Mike Wright Jr. was fifth in six reliefs used by the White Sox on Thursday, losing 9-3 to the Angels in the guaranteed ratio field, but he received more attention.
Wright was ejected from the game after hitting Shoaib Ohtani at 90.4 mph in the ninth inning. Chicago manager Tony La Rousseau was also fired for defending Wright.
Othani, who dominated the White Sox pitch well in all three games, erred when he turned off Wright. Then the right-handed player made a deep shot that the Japanese were able to avoid. The next ship fell at Otani’s feet. The referees then met with Wright and dismissed him.
The incident came two days after Cubans Yoán Moncada, Luis Robert and José Abreu were hit by pitch in a white socks victory over the Angels. The leaders in the series had differing views on the start he gave to Othani.
“Of course you do,” said Angels manager Joe Madden. “We accidentally hit two of his hitters. This is retaliation. We know that.”
La Rusa said: “It was not intentional. Rationalism made no sense. (The referee) thought (the ball) came from the contents of the first game. He deliberately ruled, but he was wrong.