For the second time this season, Gabe Kapler got tossed from a game.
Kapler, the sixth-year manager, was ejected in the bottom of the fourth inning while arguing balls and strikes for rookie Wade Meckler.
Home plate umpire Chad Whitson threw Kapler out of the game when he was chirping from the dugout. The skipper then gave Whitson an earful in defense of Meckler to earn his seventh ejection as a manager.
The rare ejection from Kapler came during a 0-0 game against the Rays, who took the series opener 10-2. Zack Littell, the former Giant, was tossing a gem as a converted starter for Tampa.
The contentious moment came with Meckler up. In the rookie’s first at-bat, two pitches that were out of the zone went against him. Kapler felt another in his second plate appearance was also mistakenly called a strike.
Littell, working on two straight quality starts, limited the Giants to one hit in five scoreless innings so far. His last time at Oracle Park, he showed up Kapler on the mound by shoving the ball into the skipper’s hand and yelling at him on his way to the dugout.
Kapler said on Tuesday that he has no hard feelings to Littell, who was released shortly after the incident last year.
“I really liked Zack and thought he did a nice job for us,” Kapler said. “The ending wasn’t ideal but I personally never came off the position that I thought he was a good, quality reliever and a guy that was great to have around the clubhouse and worked really hard. He wasn’t at his best at the end there.”