Can’t take charge
Tempers flare in seventh inning of fifth straight loss as Oakland sweeps critical series
OAKLAND, Calif. — Empty stadiums have not negated the animus toward the Astros, a team still reviled for a 3-yearold sign-stealing scheme. Any misstep is magnified, and any slump is mocked. Opponents want nothing more than to beat them. Some said this spring they’d prefer to do it physically.
The Oakland A’s claim they do not. They outclassed the three-time defending division winners in a sweep at the Coliseum. Houston manager Dusty Baker did not minimize the importance of this first series against the A’s. His team did not play as if it listened. The Astros fell 7-2 on Sunday to stretch its losing streak to five games.
Baker’s frustrations grew so great that in the seventh inning he received the 22nd ejection of his 23-year managerial career. The skipper argued balls and strikes in support of Houston’s anemic offense. The Astros repaid Baker by striking out twice and hitting a soft line drive, sending Sunday’s game to the bottom of the seventh.
To that point, the teams had played rather tranquilly through the weekend. Before the series, A’s players downplayed any thoughts of retaliation but did not dismiss the Astros’ misdeeds, which were exposed by Oakland pitcher Mike Fiers, a former Astros player, after last year’s World Series.
The seventh inning removed any ounce of peace. Both benches cleared in a brawl that, during this pandemic-shortened season, promises to carry heavy fines
and suspensions. Ballpark workers and grounds crew members sitting in the stands audibly jeered the Astros in the aftermath. One yelled about a “cheating culture.”
Both teams share blame for Sunday’s display. The brouhaha invites wonder if its aftereffects will linger into the remaining seven games between these two division foes.
“We don’t want to have something like that carry over,” said Houston outfielder Josh Reddick, a former A’s player. “We play those guys again. We don’t want to have targets on our backs as big as we already do have them right now. We just have to try and keep minimizing it the best we can.”
Astros hitting coach Alex Cintron and A’s outfielder Ramon Laureano almost came to blows during the melee. Laureano, whom the Astros traded to Oakland in 2017, was hit twice by pitches Sunday after being plunked once Friday. A’s batters were hit five times in the three-game series. No Astros batters were hit.
“It’s hard to get hit — what was it, five times I think we got hit in the series?” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “And we played it straight up. We didn’t go after anybody there. I’m not saying they went after anybody. But to get hit five times is hard to swallow.”
The two pitchers who hit Laureano on Sunday are rookies: Brandon Bailey and Humberto Castellanos. Bailey was traded to Houston for Laureano in November 2017. He hit the A’s center fielder with a 90 mph fastball on an 0-1 pitch during the fifth inning.
Castellanos, who entered the series with one career major league appearance, hit Laureano in the back during the seventh inning with a full-count curveball. He hit Laureano during Friday’s 12th inning.
“He got hit by two guys who don’t have any time in the big leagues,” Baker said. “(Castellanos) wasn’t trying to hit him.”
After the second plunking, Laureano was visibly displeased. Astros catcher Martin Maldonado tried to calm him at home plate. Bench coach Joe Espada, managing in Baker’s absence, came out of the Astros’ dugout. A few A’s players stood outside, too, but nothing appeared near escalation.
When Laureano got to first base, he started exchanging words with Cintron. Cintron, with the surgical mask he’s mandated to wear down over his chin, pointed toward Laureano. The coach waved Laureano toward the dugout — as if he were asking to be charged.
Laureano obliged, but Astros catcher Dustin Garneau and first-base coach Omar Lopez subdued him before he could reach Cintron.
“He came after the dugout, and I was just trying to stop the situation before punches were really thrown and things got out of hand,” Garneau said. “That was my whole goal.”
Despite numerous requests, the Astros did not make Cintron available to reporters after the game. During his postgame news conference, Baker claimed he had yet not spoken to Cintron and did not know what he said or why he was engaged in the back-andforth.
“Guys always say, ‘Is it inappropriate for a coach to chirp at a guy?’ Well, are you supposed to just sit there and take it, too?” Baker said. “It’s in the heat of the moment. We’re all men out there with high pride and anxiety and everything else. These things happen when you’re on the baseball field. Everybody wants you to just control your temper, which you should, but sometimes things flare out of control.”
Melvin said Laureano wouldn’t have charged the dugout “unless something completely offensive came out of that dugout.” He called for Major League Baseball to suspend Cintron.
The league’s 2020 operations manual “strictly” prohibits “fighting and instigating fights.” Last month, Dodgers pitcher Joe Kelly received an eight-game suspension for throwing at Alex Bregman and Carlos Correa, which led to benches clearing at Minute Maid Park. Baker was fined because his team disobeyed this season’s protocols.
That encounter was tame compared to Sunday’s scuffle, which could carry significant disciplinary measures. Maldonado briefly tussled with A’s catcher Austin Allen and third baseman Matt Chapman. Allen was ejected. No member of the Astros bench — including Cintron — was ejected.
“I think it gets magnified,” Reddick said. “That’s one of those things in baseball to where you don’t really think about what’s going on with mask wearing and a pandemic. You’re just looking to get in there and protect your teammates as best you can and minimize a situation that could get out of hand — something that could keep going the rest of the season that we don’t want to have.”
The Astros must hope the events give life to their listless offense. They collected six hits and totaled two runs — both on Yuli Gurriel’s fourth-inning homer. Starter Cristian Javier was rocked for five runs in three innings. Then the bullpen arrived, and chaos reigned.
Laureano and Cintron perhaps overshadowed the enormity of this early-season series. The Astros exited in third place in the American League West, 5½ games away from the division-leading A’s. They have lost five straight games — a streak that could cripple them during a 60-game season.
“It’s a long ways from spiraling out of control,” Baker said. “We’re not playing good baseball, and we ran up against a team that was hot — they’re probably the hottest team in baseball.”
Added Melvin, whose 12-4 team has won nine in a row: “It doesn’t damper everything. I mean, we swept these guys. That was our intent, and we did it.”