SEATTLE — A pair of questionable calls by the umpiring crew were enough to get generally unflappable White Sox manager Will Venable ejected from Monday’s series-opening 6-1 loss to the Mariners.
The second-year skipper lost his cool in the third inning after Randy Arozarena swatted a double to left field off Sox starter Noah Schultz with Jhonny Pereda on first.
Pereda took a wide turn around second, crossing paths and stumbling past second baseman Sam Antonacci before rounding third. Left fielder Tristan Peters had the baserunner dead to rights at home, but the crew ruled Antonacci had obstructed Pereda and gave the Mariners a run for a 2-0 lead.
Will Venable has been tossed after back-to-back questionable calls by the umps in Seattle pic.twitter.com/1EdOZEA2cj
— Sox On 35th (@SoxOn35th) May 19, 2026
The controversial two-out call came a play after the umps denied a possible double-play liner that Antonacci seemed to catch and then intentionally drop. Crew chief Tripp Gibson ruled it a lineout, but Pereda didn’t appear to tag up either way.
It was all enough to get the usually laid-back Venable to toss his hat on the field in frustration, earning his first heave-ho of the season and fourth of his career.
The calls might’ve loomed larger if Mariners third baseman Colt Emerson, Seattle’s top prospect, hadn’t put the game out of reach with a three-run homer in the eighth off reliever Trevor Richards.
Venable said the lineout call was “no big deal,” but Pereda’s play got him heated.
“Obviously there was obstruction there, and you get some protection,” Venable said in his office at T-Mobile Park afterward. “But when you’re thrown out by 30 feet, it’s not supposed to protect you like that and they disagreed with that.”
Antonacci pointed the thumb instead of the finger on a tough night on the basepaths for him on both sides of the ball. The Springfield native thought he caught the rookie Emerson sleeping in the first inning, trying to steal third base after advancing to second on a walk to Munetaka Murakami. Antonacci was out, taking the air out of the game-opening drive.
“I definitely think our identity’s being aggressive, but you’ve got to pick and choose when to be that,” said Antonacci, who acknowledged he was trying to get a ground ball called on the third-inning liner. “In the moment, it was probably hit hard enough to where I could have got him at first. I don’t know. I’ll have to go look at the video.”
But the Sox rookie had no doubt Pereda was “definitely intentional” in drawing the obstruction call.
“It’s a smart play,” Antonacci said. “If I was on the bases, I’d do it too… Whoever was running, I don’t think they would have made it [home] regardless of whether it was obstruction, but that’s not what happened. So, you’ve just got to be better.”
Antonacci said he lost track of his positioning “and ultimately, it made Schultz’s ERA go up, which is a hard pill to swallow on my end.” Schultz (2-3, 4.93 ERA) surrendered three runs on five hits over 5 1/3 innings with six strikeouts and no walks.
Peters, who plated the Sox’ only run with a solo blast in the seventh, was heartened by Venable’s outburst.
“It’s good to know he’s got our backs,” Peters said. “He’s a pretty chill guy, too, like he doesn’t get emotional too often, and I think he knows when to pick his spots too, and he did there.”
Bench coach Walker McKinven took the reins in Venable’s stead.