Atlanta Braves ace Chris Sale was ejected by umpire Dan Merzel before a pitch was thrown in Sunday's game against the New York Yankees. The ejection followed a controversial balk call during Saturday's 5-4 loss, which allowed rookie Spencer Jones to score.

Crew chief Dan Bellino explained that Sale was called for his third career balk because he failed to declare he was pitching from the windup ahead of the at-bat to Austin Wells. Manager Walt Weiss continued the argument and was also ejected during the confrontation.

This marks Sale's fourth career ejection and his first since 2019. In his third season with the Braves, the veteran left-hander maintains a 2.20 ERA across 21 starts.