Just a few days into the MLB season, and we already have our second bench clearing brawl.
On Saturday, in the bottom of the seventh inning of the Toronto Blue Jays vs. Tampa Bay Rays game, the benches cleared after an incident at third base.
Julio Aguilar/Getty Images
Rays shortstop José Caballero dropped a bunt down and ended up getting all the way around the bases on an errant throw. When Caballero got to third base, he was tagged out by Blue Jays infielder Bo Bichette.
After getting tagged out, Cabellero ran through the base, and ended up bumping into the Blue Jays’ pitcher, Génesis Cabrera. Cabellero appeared to be unhappy with something Cabrera did, and words were exchanged.
Then, Cabrera shoved Caballero, and within seconds, the benches were cleared. Here’s a video of the play, via Talkin’ Baseball on X:
It’s unclear exactly what happened, but it appears Caballero wasn’t happy with the way Cabrera grabbed him when he ran through third base.
Either way, the benches were cleared, and fortunately, nothing escalated beyond that initial shove.
Major League Baseball’s league-wide Opening Day was Thursday, and this is already the second benches clearing incident of the season.
On Friday, in the season opener for the New York Mets and Milwaukee Brewers, Rhys Hoskins slid into second base, and Jeff McNeil of the Mets wasn’t happy about the slide. The benches ended up clearing. Here’s a video of that play, also via Talkin’ Baseball on X:
On Saturday, in the second game of the series between the Mets and Brewers, the fireworks didn’t stop.
In the top of the seventh inning, with the Brewers up 6-2, Mets pitcher Yohan Ramírez threw a pitch behind Hoskins. He was immediately ejected from the game. Here’s a video of the pitch via Talkin’ Baseball on X:
Hoskins got the last (and first) laugh, going 3-for-4 with one home run and four runs batted in on Saturday. After the game, he had a simple response to the incident.
“Big leaguers don’t miss by eight feet,” Hoskins said in a video captured by Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “Whether or not it was on purpose or not, that’s not for me to decide. I really don’t care. But this game has had a way of policing itself for many, many, many years. So let’s focus on doing it the right way if we’re going to do that.”
No discipline has come down by MLB for any of the incidents as of now.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.