After being ejected, Bautista says he’s trying to control emotions

Jose Bautista earned a quick ejection after arguing balls and strikes, then said after the Blue Jays’ victory that he’s trying to control his emotions.

Bautista was thrown out of Sunday’s 2-1 win over the Houston Astros after arguing a called strike that led to a strikeout in the seventh inning. Bautista had barely stepped away from the batter’s box when home-plate umpire Sam Holbrook ejected him.

“I said, ‘I thought you have the biggest bleep strike zone that I’ve seen all year,’ and that was it,” Bautista said. “I was out of the game.”

Though it was just Bautista’s second ejection of the season, his propensity to argue with umpires may have earned him something of a reputation. It’s a problem the all-star outfielder has said he’s working on.

“I’m always looking to hold it in when I think a bad call is made,” Bautista said. “I’m always looking to stay in games. I’m always looking to try to do something good for the team. I’m always looking to try to help us win the game. I’m not trying to strike out, I’m not trying to get ejected and I’m not trying to not come through in that big situation.”

Bautista had popped out, flied out and grounded out before coming up in the seventh with a runner in scoring position. After falling behind 1-2 on two called strikes, Bautista swung and missed a pitch that he knew was a ball.

“There’s things that are out of my control that make or put you in better or worse situations when it comes to at-bats and counts,” he said. “I’m just trying to make contact. Either my eyes are deceiving me or I just don’t have a good feel for the strike zone right now. I swung at a ball and struck out, and that’s the bottom line.”

Bautista said it’s “impossible” to know whether he’s being targeted by umpires because of his reputation. The work he needs to do is independent of calls made on the field.

“What I need to do is stay in the games and realize that unfortunately even though I would love for right calls to be made consistently, that’s just not going to happen and I’ve got to deal with it,” Bautista said. “I’ve been trying to control myself as much as I can. But it is something that I’m not as good at as other players. I struggle with it. I play with a lot of heart and emotion and I try to always come through for us. When I don’t, it upsets me. If I fail on my own, it upsets me and if I feel like some opportunities are being taken away from me, it upsets me even more.”

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