Josh Donaldson’s umpire beef was valid, for once

Josh Donaldson had every right to be angry with Dan Bellino

Bellino’s made a habit of bad calls during the pandemic era, and Donaldson was on the receiving end of a few of those on Thursday. After taking a tough pitch earlier in the at-bat, Donaldson homered to give the Twins the lead despite the antics of Bellino. Rather than take his displeasure to the dugout, Donaldson voiced his anger with Bellino and rubbed some dirt on home plate. After taking a few steps towards the dugout, he decided that wasn’t enough and stepped on home a few extra times.

The veteran ump rightfully threw Donaldson out of the game, but not before he’d made his point. In the top of the sixth inning, Donaldson had given the Twins the lead. What more could he have done?

In both at-bats, Donaldson was victimized by close calls which went against him. It was that kind of game, and he wasn’t about to see another at-bat end in similar fashion.

The Twins could’ve used Donaldson later in the game

The Twins would give up the lead in the bottom of the seventh, and Donaldson was one less big bat in the lineup after becoming the first player since 1978 to be ejected on a home run. It’s an astounding statistic, but it gave the White Sox bullpen a much easier path to clinching the team’s first playoff spot since 2008, which is precisely what they did.

White Sox playoff spot or not, the Twins weren’t meant to hold off the inevitable on this day. Donaldson’s absence made a difference, but perhaps even more importantly it’ll make Bellino reconsider his strike zone in his next outing. To this point, it’s been pure trash.