Ubaldo Jimenez was ejected from no-hit bid after plunking Pablo Sandoval

We had to check the calendar a few times on Friday, because it sure seemed closer to the stretch run in September and or mid-October than mid-April.

A good example of the intensity and craziness played out in Boston, where an unusual set of circumstances led to an untimely ejection for Baltimore Orioles right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez, who was making an early bid to no-hit the Red Sox at Fenway Park.

Jimenez was cruising along into the fourth inning, having allowed three walks, when with two outs he nailed Boston third baseman Pablo Sandoval on the back of his right shoulder with a pitch. In the eyes of home plate umpire Jordan Baker, that pitch was considered retaliation for an incident earlier in the game that was reminiscent of the play that caused benches to clear later Friday night in Kansas City.

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On the questionable play, Sandoval was attempting to break up a double play at second base when he used his leg to interrupt Jonathan Schoop’s throwing motion. It was a legal slide, but one that didn’t appear to be appreciated or viewed as necessary.

According to crew chief Jerry Meals, that’s the view Baker had of that play, and it was his judgment call to end any potential problems before they could escalate, regardless of the actual intentions or Jimenez’s performance to that point.

“After they showed the replay on the board, Jordan saw the Orioles’ dugout, and it seemed they reacted to the slide, and then Pablo’s next at-bat, first pitch to him, fastball in,” crew chief Jerry Meals said. “It’s close to the head. It was a dangerous pitch, so it’s an automatic. You can give a warning if you prefer to, but he felt it’s an ejection.”

Score one for the Fenway Park videoboard. 

As many have noted, intent can be a difficult thing to read wth Jimenez. There was a spring training incident three years ago where it was fairly obvious he plunked former teammate Troy Tulowitzki on purpose. However, even on good days, such as Friday appeared to be, his command is often too unpredictable to draw conclusions.

In fact, the best example of Jimenez’s at times effective wildness came exactly five years ago Friday when he no-hit the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field. That start included six walks, which is the fifth most ever during a no-hitter.

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Here’s how Jimenez described his pitch to Sandoval, courtesy of MLB.com.  

“Especially against a left-handed hitter, you aren’t trying to go down, you are trying to go up. I had three walks. It’s not like I had perfect command of my fastball,” he said. “I was shocked.”

As for manager Buck Showalter, well, it’s probably a good thing he had some time simmer down. He called the ejection “professionally embarrassing” before adding that he’d like to see Baker reprimanded for his judgment call.

“Everybody, I would think about 30-40,000 people [were shocked]. … MLB will look at it and hopefully take some action to make sure it didn’t happen again, something like that impacts the game that much,” the manager said. “It’s sad that it did. My biggest thing is the bullpen and what we had to do there. … Every time somebody gets hit with a pitch, it’s not intentional. And every time somebody slides hard, that’s what you’re supposed to do. Nobody gets mad. A lot of times you say, ‘I know what it looks like,’ but this time, no, not at all.”

Baltimore went on to use four relievers — three for an inning-plus — before Boston walked off in the ninth inning on a Xander Bogaerts single.

The Orioles frustration seems justified in this case, but what’s done is done. Any action against Baker seems unlikely as well, since it was a judgment call. The league would likely feel there’s enough evidence to support his ruling, as to avoid any conflicts with the umpires, so all the Orioles can do now is take care of business on Saturday. 

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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813