The Royals manager was ejected on Tuesday night for arguing the reversal of a balk call during the team's 6-3 loss to the Miami Marlins.
When it seemed like the Kansas City Royals were gaining traction on Tuesday with a balk called against the Miami Marlins in the eighth inning, that was not the case when crew chief Chris Guccione overturned it upon deliberation.
With Carter Jensen at third base and Jac Caglianone in the batter's box on a 1-0 count, Miami reliever Victor Vodnik stepped off the mound, stumbling as his right cleat got caught in the rubber and then resetting by stepping on the bottom of the mound.
First-base umpire Nestor Ceja penalized Vodnik, allowing Jensen to come home for what would have been the team's third run of the game if the call stood.
However, Jensen had to trot back out to the diamond after Guccione and the crew later ruled that Vodnik was only making a disengagement and simply lost his footing when doing so.
As a result, a livid Quatraro stormed from the dugout and exchanged words with Guccione, leading to his ejection.
Following the matchup, the Royals manager voiced his frustration not only with the call but also the crucial spot in which it was made as the club fought to overcome the Marlins' 6-0 lead.
"It's hard to get balks called," Quatraro said, according to MLB.com. "It's not a common thing. And then to see it overturned, I think my frustration was more just that it seemed like they were looking for a reason to overturn it when that call doesn't usually come from second base or home plate, just because of the nature of the balk itself. But just more frustrated at where it was in the game and what a big spot it was."
Nonetheless, Kansas City's play during most of the matchup didn't help them out either as right-hander Randy Dobnak surrendered a season-high six earned runs through six innings pitched.
Graham Pauley struck early in the second, crushing a two-run homer to right field to put Miami ahead 2-0. Dobnak kept the Marlins at bay until the fifth when Kyle Stowers extended the lead with a solo shot.
Pauley also forced Dobnak out of the game during the seventh with a two-run triple that drove in Otto López and Joe Mack. Even then, the Marlins weren't done yet when Javier Sanoja scored Pauley with an RBI single.
The Royals began chipping away in the eighth when Josh Rojas scored off a one-run double by Jensen while Isaac Collins reached home off a sacrifice fly by Bobby Witt Jr.
Although Caglianone flew out to end the inning, Nick Loftin cut the Marlins' lead to three runs during the ninth with a solo blast of his own. Still, Miami held on for the win as Collins flew out to wrap up the contest.
With the loss, Kansas City fell to 62-77 overall as Dobnak has now compiled a 2.65 ERA and 1.39 WHIP across nine starts as a Royal.
The Royals will have an opportunity to even the series tonight at 7:40 p.m. EDT when Noah Cameron takes the mound against right-hander Eury Pérez.
