Fredi Gonzalez ejected from spring training game in first inning

Don’t tell Fredi Gonzalez spring training games don’t mean anything.

The Braves took on the Yankees in Grapefruit League action Thursday night and Shelby Miller’s first pitch to Jacoby Ellsbury in the bottom of the first was judged to be low by home plate umpire Dan Iassogna and called a ball. Gonzalez was not at all pleased with the decision and let Iassogna know about it. He was barely out of the dugout when got the boot from the game.

Of course, Gonzalez made sure to give Iassogna a piece of his mind before exiting the field for good.

[Baseball is back! Check out Yahoo For Spring Training for great spring training pics.]

Gonzalez’s early ejection is great on its own, but the best part of this story is the reason he gave Michael Cunningham of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution for why he was in a combative mood:

“It was balls and strikes,” Gonzalez said. “I thought the balls in the first inning were down and they were calling strikes. Then Shelby throws a good pitch and they call a ball. It’s a late game in spring training and I get a little ornery because I’m usually in bed by this time. Maybe my temper got me a little bit.”

We didn’t picture Fredi Gonzalez as the type of guy in need of beauty sleep, but if that’s the case he won’t be happy to hear that the Braves have three games that start after 6 p.m. over the next eight days.

Oh yeah, in the end the Yankees beat Atlanta 3-2 and Masahiro Tanaka looked quite good in his first start of the spring.

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Israel Fehr is a writer for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter. Follow @israelfehr