The Nationals beat the Marlins 2-0 on Monday afternoon. While it was a low-scoring game, there were some very early fireworks as Miami leadoff hitter Xavier Edwards disagreed with home plate umpire Brennan Miller's third call of the game and ended up getting tossed.
With a 1-1 count pitcher Andrew Alvarez threw a slider that caught the top of the strike zone. When Miller called it a strike Edwards stepped all the way out of the batter's box with attitude. He grounded out on the next pitch and then got thrown out while still complaining about the high strike in the dugout as the next at-bat started.
Manager Clayton McCullough immediately jogged out to home to talk to the umpire and got away with a whole bunch of swearing. You often hear about players or managers getting ejected for saying a "magic word" and after watching McCullough not get ejected here, I think we can rule one out now.
Clayton McCullough sticking up for Xavier Edwards after Edwards got ejected in the top of the first.
— Fish On First (@FishOnFirst) September 1, 2025
"A mother f****** major league player has something to say to you and you're gonna throw him the f*** out for that? IN THE FIRST F****** INNING? Are you f****** kidding me?" pic.twitter.com/BAOwNfDPN7
McCullough was yelling and dropping f-bombs in the faces of two umpires here who must have thought he was making a good point.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Marlins Manager Gets Away With a Ton of F-Bombs in Umpire’s Face After Early Ejection.