There was no mistaking the words that Justin Verlander uttered to Red Sox manager Alex Cora during the second inning at Minute Maid Park on Tuesday night.
The Astros ace was heard telling Cora to “f–k off” when the Boston skipper came onto the field during a delay while Verlander was fixing an issue with his PitchCom device.
One of the announcers on the Astros’ AT&T Sportsnet broadcast can be heard laughing after the right-hander’s comments were picked up by the field microphones.
The whole situation started when a PitchCom issue with Verlander caused what looked to be a pitch clock violation.
While the 2022 American League Cy Young award winner was trying to sort out the issue, Cora came out of the dugout to argue for an automatic ball, which the former Met did not appreciate.
“You shook him off five times,” Cora could be heard saying as he walked out, with Cora seeming to imply that there was no actual issue with the device.
That prompted a quick retort from Verlander.
“I didn’t shake that at bat. F–k off, Alex,” he said.
Interestingly, Cora and Verlander were together in Houston in 2017 after the ace was traded from the Tigers to the Astros at the end of the summer before the team’s World Series run, while Cora was the team’s bench coach.
The second-inning issue didn’t seem to throw Verlander off his game on Tuesday night.
Verlander struck out nine strikeouts over six scoreless innings, allowing five hits and one walk.
He lowered his season ERA to 3.19.
Things didn’t get better for Cora, though, who was ejected after arguing with home plate umpire Pat Hoberg.
An animated Cora even kicked the dirt around the dish as he got his money’s worth.
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