Yankees' CC Sabathia ejected two innings shy of $500000 bonus

4:10 PM ET

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- New York Yankees starter CC Sabathia, in the middle of a one-hitter and two innings shy of earning a $500,000 incentive-based bonus, was ejected from Thursday afternoon's game at Tropicana Field.

Sabathia entered Thursday's game having pitched 148 innings this season. In what will be his final start of the year, he needed to last through the seventh in order to make it to 155 innings and receive the bonus.

But he was tossed by home-plate umpire Vic Carapazza in the bottom of the sixth inning after throwing a 92.5 mph cutter into Tampa Bay Rays catcher Jesus Sucre's left leg.

Carapazza had issued warnings minutes prior, following a pitch in the top of the inning from Rays reliever Andrew Kittredge that sailed behind Yankees catcher Austin Romine's head. After the warnings, the next batter to be thrown at or hit would lead to ejections.

It was just after Kittredge's ball went whizzing past Romine when Sabathia emerged from the Yankees' dugout and yelled in the direction of his opposing pitcher.

Once that half-inning ended with the Yankees scoring four runs to extend their lead to 11-0, Sabathia's yelling resumed in the bottom of the sixth, and he was ejected after his very first pitch of the inning plunked Sucre.

This was Sabathia's fifth ejection of his career, and his second this season. He also was ejected from the dugout at Toronto on July 7.

As he was walking off the mound following the ejection, Sabathia turned towards the Rays dugout and shouted: "That was for you, (expletive)." It was unclear toward whom specifically he was directing his anger. Then, feet from the Yankees' dugout, Sabathia made a motion toward his crotch as he glanced back at the Rays dugout.

Cameras caught some surprised Tampa Bay players. Rays pitcher Blake Snell was seen motioning with his hands and saying: "It's 11-0. Why?"

Around the same time, Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge positioned himself along the first-base line near the Rays dugout, attempting to keep the peace. Eventually, he started laughing with Rays pitcher Sergio Romo as the Rays stood outside the dugout.

Earlier in the game, Rays first baseman Jake Bauers was hit by a pitch. The day before, Rays outfielder Kevin Kiermaier suffered a hairline fracture when a pitch from Yankees starter Masahiro Tanaka hit his right foot.

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