Revisiting last night's ump show and the impact on pitching

BOSTON - Fans who paid last night to watch plate umpire Sam Holbrook sure got their money's worth. They must have gone home happy. Memories to last a lifetime. Kids today are demanding two Angel Hernandez cards and a Laz Diaz for one Sam Holbrook.

Holbrook put on a show, ejecting Kevin Gausman and Adam Jones within the first five innings. He jumped out of his shoes to toss Gausman after a 77 mph curveball kissed Xander Bogaerts' back one pitch into the second.

Manager Buck Showalter and catcher Caleb Joseph made it a point afterward to call Holbrook a good umpire and a good man. They would know. But he had a bad night - at least part of it..

I get how umpires were on high alert, but use some common sense. Have a feel for the situation. No one thought Gausman meant to hit Bogaerts 20 pitches into his start, knowing an ejection would result from it.

I loved this line from Joseph: "The guy throws a curveball. He's got 97 in the tank. You're going to choose to hit him with 77? Give me a break, give me a break."

I'll say the same to anyone arguing that Gausman figured he'd get away with it by throwing a breaking ball. You're trying to send a message when you purposely hit someone. A curve ain't a purpose pitch. What's your message? "Don't make me mad again or next time it's noogies and a tickle fight."

If Holbrook's name sounds familiar but you can't quite place it and you keep calling him "Hal," he's the umpire who was working left field in the 2012 National League wild card game in Atlanta and called an out in the eighth inning via the infield fly rule on a ball hit by the Braves' Andrelton Simmons that dropped between Cardinals shortstop Pete Kozma and left fielder Matt Holliday.

The Braves, trailing 6-3, would have had the bases loaded and one out. They played the game under protest. Fans caused a 19-minute delay after tossing garbage on the field. As it turns out, Holbrook would have been the perfect guy to ... wait for it ... throw it out.

Because of Holbrook's overreaction last night, Richard Bleier had to cover four innings and likely will be sent down today. Ubaldo Jiménez missed his scheduled start today because he had to cover the last three innings.

(Of course, Jiménez might benefit from the switch. He didn't allow a run and lowered his ERA to 6.58.)

Gausman said he could start again tonight, but that's not happening. Showalter indicated that he already had a pitcher in place.

"I don't know, I haven't talked to Buck yet," Gausman said. "I want to pitch (tonight). That probably won't happen. I don't know. We'll talk about it and go from there."

There already were uncertainties attached to the rotation before last night's nonsense. Now, we're left to wonder if the projected starters for the weekend White Sox series at Camden Yards might be altered. Gausman doesn't need four days' rest.

Showalter could bring him back in a few days. Remember that Sunday is listed as TBD, though Chris Tillman figured to come off the disabled list.

The Orioles also could option Alec Asher despite his second impressive start and bring up two fresher arms. I was prepared, before Jiménez's insertion into last night's game, to speculate on whether the Orioles might put Asher back in the bullpen or, gasp, give him Jiménez's spot in the rotation.

Jiménez was carrying a 7.43 ERA and 1.739 WHIP before last night and the leash has to be getting shorter. He hasn't topped 3 1/3 innings in his last two starts and hasn't gone past 4 1/3 in four of his five starts. The Orioles can't let this continue for much longer.

Those 7 2/3 scoreless innings in Cincinnati are a distant memory. Some fans might wonder if they were an illusion.

Asher turned in his second quality start in two chances Tuesday night, leading Showalter to confirm that the right-hander earned consideration for a third opportunity.

"Well, obviously, but what's consideration, you know?" Showalter asked.

"He's done his part. I don't want to hear anybody say he faced a team that wasn't swinging the bats good. And maybe Boston isn't, but what do you want him to do? He's done his part and it's a nice depth piece for us at the worst. He's certainly worthy of further consideration."

It may be farther down the road. I'm not sure how Gausman's ejection and the ripple effect will impact him.

I was reminded last night that Jiménez also had been ejected from a game at Fenway Park. It happened back on April 17, 2015 after he hit Pablo Sandoval in the fourth inning.

Plate umpire Jordan Baker overreacted. He hadn't issued any warnings and Jiménez already had walked three batters in 3 2/3 hitless innings, so his control was spotty. Neither side believed that the pitch was intentional.

Showalter later called the first career ejection for Jiménez "professionally embarrassing" for Baker.

The Red Sox will bring up Kyle Kendrick tonight to replace Steven Wright, who's on the disabled list. Kendrick is making his first start since Oct. 2, 2015 in San Francisco, completing a season with the Rockies when he was 7-13 with a 6.32 ERA and 33 home runs allowed in 27 starts.

Kendrick's never faced the Orioles. The current group is 18-for-40 (.450) against him.

Seth Smith will be leading off and playing right field, as he does against right-handers. And he's 12-for-23 (.522) with three doubles and a triple against Kendrick.

Mark Trumbo is 3-for-7 with a triple and home run and J.J. Hardy is 2-for-5.

Hardy has three hits in his last two games after going 3-for-34. He's been grasping for any semblance of consistency in his work at the plate. He began the season 2-for-19 in his first six games, was 7-for-16 with a home run in his next four and 10-for-28 if you extend it to seven games.

The 3-for-34 stretch followed to lower his average to .185, but he's inched it up to .205.