Major League Baseball

Early exits for Cox, Wagner

Published Oct. 9, 2010 7:35 a.m. ET

share

facebookxredditlink

foxsports

The Atlanta Braves know manager Bobby Cox will be back for Game 3 of the NL division series after making an early exit following yet another ejection.

They don't known when closer Billy Wagner will be back.

Cox and Wagner both made early exits in Game 2 against San Francisco on Friday night, missing the end of the Braves' 5-4 victory in 11 innings over the Giants that evened the best-of-five series at one win apiece.

Cox was ejected from a postseason game for the third time after arguing a call at first base with umpire Paul Emmel in the second inning.

Wagner lasted just two batters in the 10th inning before leaving with a left oblique injury.

''I don't know how I'll feel tomorrow,'' Wagner said. ''I know it's pretty sore now. I just have to come in tomorrow and do what they say and hopefully if I'm not able to go this round or next round they'll do well enough to get to the World Series. Hopefully I'll be all right.''

While Cox will be back in the dugout for Game 3 on Sunday in Atlanta, this could have been Wagner's final appearance in the majors depending on the severity of the injury and how long the Braves last in the postseason.

''We're not going to write him off yet,'' Cox said. ''He's probably done for this series. We're not sure. It's an oblique. For Billy to come off the mound it had to be hurting pretty bad. Obliques generally take a while.''

Wagner first grabbed at his side after chasing pinch-hitter Edgar Renteria's bunt single to start the 10th. The left-hander then fielded Andres Torres' sacrifice bunt back to the mound, threw to first for the out and immediately grabbed at the area near his left hip before crumbling to his knees.

''I started to go down to get the ball and I saw Troy in the corner of my eye and that's when I tried to get out of the way and I felt it pinch,'' Wagner said of the first bunt. ''I thought I might have a little cramp. When he bunted the ball back, I couldn't move. That was a sure double play ball. So when I turned to throw to first I really don't know how I got it to first.''

The 39-year-old Wagner walked slowly off the field with a trainer and was replaced by Kyle Farnsworth, who escaped a bases-loaded jam when Buster Posey grounded into an inning-ending double play.

The Braves bullpen did fine on this night without much help from Wagner, throwing seven scoreless innings after Tommy Hanson was knocked out early. Rookie Craig Kimbrel was especially sharp, striking out four while retiring all six batters in the eighth and ninth innings.

Mike Dunn pitched 1 1-3 perfect innings, Peter Moylan got two outs, Jonny Venters pitched a scoreless inning and Farnsworth got the win.

''I'm probably the worst one out there compared to what they're facing,'' Wagner said. ''I wouldn't want to face our bullpen. You have unknowns out there that don't have patterns. Fourteen years of Billy Wagner, you know what's coming. You don't know what Kimbrell, Dunn and Venters are going to do. They're very capable of doing whatever skip asks. I have all the faith in the world in them.''

Wagner, though, had one of his best seasons ever. He allowed just 38 hits and struck out 104 batters in 69 1-3 innings, recording a 1.43 ERA and saving 37 games.

''He's a huge reason we're in the position we are,'' catcher Brian McCann said. ''You just can't replace a Billy Wagner, you just can't.''

Cox's exit came much earlier and in a much more predictable fashion for the manager whose 158 regular season ejections are the most ever in baseball.

Alex Gonzalez was called out after Giants shortstop Juan Uribe made a diving stop and threw to first base. The throw beat Gonzalez, but replays showed that Aubrey Huff's foot might have been pulled off the base.

''I thought he was way off the bag, at least six, eight inches,'' Cox said. ''But I honestly wasn't going to talk about it if we had gotten beat. It's umpires' judgments and they make great calls and they miss them once in a while. I thought he was off the bag from the dugout.''

Emmel was the umpire at second base in Game 1 who called Posey safe on a stolen base when replays showed he was out. Posey later scored the only run of the game.

Cox did not argue in the opener, but this time he came out of the dugout after first-base coach Glenn Hubbard started arguing. Cox protested for a bit and was ejected by Emmel immediately after throwing his hat to the ground. The 69-year-old Cox also was ejected in the 1992 and 1996 World Series.

''Well I brought that up,'' Cox said of the Game 1 call. ''The only run that scored last night, he was out. But still I respect the umpires and they're human. So am I. And I'm not always right.''

Cox became the third manager to get ejected in eight postseason games this year, following Tampa Bay's Joe Maddon and Minnesota's Ron Gardenhire on Thursday. Before that, no manager had been tossed in the postseason since St. Louis' Tony La Russa in 2005.

share

Get more from Major League Baseball Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic

Major League Baseball