Cubs' Zobrist tossed after advocating for robo-umps

Chicago Cubs second baseman Ben Zobrist was ejected from a game for the first time in his career Tuesday, and he didn't even utter a profanity.

Called out on strikes on a questionable pitch in the sixth inning, Zobrist attempted to discuss that at-bat with plate umpire Phil Cuzzi between the eighth and ninth innings of an eventual 7-0 Chicago loss to the visiting Milwaukee Brewers.

"I just basically said that's why we want an electronic strike zone. And that's what obviously got me tossed," Zobrist told reporters postgame. "It is what it is.

"I'm not going to lie. I think when you are dealing with that, you are trying to have good quality at-bats and you feel like it gets taken away from you, then sometimes your pride gets in the way and you say things that are going to upset (someone). And obviously that upset him and he tossed me."

Zobrist and Cubs manager Joe Maddon argued the strike-three call on a pitch from Brewers right-hander Jhoulys Chacin when it happened in the sixth inning. Maddon wound up getting ejected at that point. Zobrist remained in the game, then appeared to try to have a calm discussion about the call after the eighth inning when he wound up getting sent to an early shower, too.

Electronic measurement of the strike zone showed the pitch that Zobrist disputed barely missed the plate. ESPN Stats & Information reported that pitches in the spot where Chacin's slider landed are ruled strikes 44.7 percent of the time.

"He knows I'm not going to argue if it's close," Zobrist said, according to ESPN. "I rarely do that. I know the zone pretty well, I feel like. If it's close, I'm going to walk back. This one I knew. I knew it was never on the plate. I didn't need to look on the video. I got animated, at first, and he didn't even want me to be animated about it. I was told that later."

The 37-year-old utility man said he hoped his "electronic strike zone" comment won't lead to umpires being biased against him moving forward.

"The integrity of us doing our jobs and them doing their jobs should keep that from happening," Zobrist said, according to ESPN. "But they are human beings. That's the point. They get upset. We get upset. They don't want to hear us say certain things, and we don't want to feel like they don't care.

"I do think all the umpires care, but sometimes it's frustrating when you feel like you know the zone and I feel like the at-bat was taken away from me."

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)