Ejections: Eric Cooper (1)

HP Umpire Eric Cooper ejected Astros Manager Brad Mills for arguing a strike call in the bottom of the 3rd inning of the Pirates-Astros game. With two out and one on, Astros batter Jeff Keppinger took a 3-0 fastball for a called strike one and a 3-1 cutter for a called strike two from Pirates pitcher Kevin Correia. Replays indicate that the strike one pitch caught the edge of the plate above the knees and the strike two pitch over the heart of the plate at the knees, the call was correct.*^ Keppinger subsequently hit a home run after the Mills ejection on a 3-2 pitch. At the time of the ejection, the Pirates were leading, 2-1. The Pirates ultimately won the contest, 7-5, in 11 innings.

This is Eric Cooper (56)'s first ejection of 2011.
Eric Cooper now has 4 points in the Umpire Ejection Fantasy League (0 Previous + 2 MLB + 2 Correct Call = 4).
Eric Cooper was not drafted in 2011.
* Pitch #4 (called strike one) is correct under the 'Kulpa' Rule because it had a px value of -0.901, which is in the borderline range (0.901 to 1.000, 0.000 to 0.900 is the strike range).
^ Quality of Correctness was challenged and confirmed ("Correct" ==> "Correct").

This is the 123rd ejection of 2011.
This is the 60th Manager ejection of 2011.
This is Brad Mills' fifth ejection of 2011, which leads all Managers.

Wrap: Pirates at Astros 6/17/11 Wrap
Video: Brad Mills is ejected by Eric Cooper

Pitch f/x courtesy Brooks Baseball