Incident igniting scuffle with A’s in dispute
Cintron denies he insulted mother of Laureano to set off Oakland OF
A’s outfielder Ramon Laureano said Monday he charged the Astros’ dugout Sunday after Astros assistant hitting coach Alex Cintron insulted his mother, prompting a benches-clearing scuffle that is expected to result in penalties from Major League Baseball.
Laureano was hit with a pitch in the seventh inning by Astros rookie Humberto Castellanos, his second hit by pitch of the game and third of the series, and gestured toward Castellanos before exchanging words with Cintron while walking to first base.
The outfielder then ran toward the Astros’ dugout and was taken to the ground by Astros catcher Dustin Garneau. The benches cleared and shoving ensued before order was restored.
Laureano walked to first base while demonstrating to Castellanos the proper way to throw a slider and told the San Francisco Chronicle: “I was just having fun in the worst time ever.”
Cintron, however, then said in Spanish something that was derogatory about Laureano’s mother, the A’s player said.
“Obviously, I don’t take that lightly,” he told the San Francisco Chronicle. “I don’t think anyone would take that lightly.”
A’s manager Bob Melvin described Cintron’s remarks as “completely offensive,” and A’s pitcher Frankie Montas said Cintron appeared to motion Laureano toward the Astros’ dugout.
“Ramon is the type of guy with a lot of energy. For him to do that, someone’s got to say something,” Montas told the San Francisco Chronicle.
“I saw the replays, and I saw one of the coaches kind of challenging him like, ‘Hey, come here.’ Hey, you don’t want a coach trying to provoke you.”
Laureano acknowledged the probability that he will be disciplined by MLB, which has come down hard against physical contact with opponents during the COVID-19-influenced season.
“It’s a tough situation. I reacted that way, and it’s a hard time with social distancing during the pandemic — obviously, I look like a not very smart guy,” Laureano said. “I regret charging that guy, because it’s a waste of time.”
Astros manager Dusty Baker said he has not heard from MLB regarding its investigation. He said he had a brief meeting with the coaching staff after Sunday’s game, during which he was ejected in the sixth inning, to discuss the incident but declined to offer details.
The Astros have declined requests to make Cintron available to answer questions regarding the incident. An Astros spokesman said Cintron denied saying anything derogatory about Laureano’s mother.
Baker described the melee as “unfortunate, and we’ll try not to let it happen again.”
Asked to detail what Cintron told him about the confrontation, Baker said, “I can’t tell you that (because) I might get called as a witness. … I can tell you that (Cintron) was remorseful.”
Baker said it was clear after viewing video of the incident that Castellanos did not try to hit Laureano.
“He hit him with a breaking ball,” the manager said. “He’s a young man trying to stay on this team, and it certainly wasn’t a situation where you’re going to try to hit somebody, and you wouldn’t ask a young guy to do it anyway.
“There was no reason for it. Those guys were already beating our brains out. They swept the series. There’s no reason to hit anybody. You just accept the licking, and you try to return, reciprocate the favor when you see them next time.
“I’m just sorry that things escalated,” the manager added.
Laureano, who was traded by the Astros to Oakland in 2017, said he gets along well with Astros players and told ESPN he was grateful to Garneau, who was with the A’s for part of last season, for his treatment after the catcher tackled him in front of the Astros dugout.
“(Garneau) was protecting me 100 percent the whole time. I really feel the respect,” Laureano said. “He’s one of the best teammates I’ve ever had. He protected me. We were down on the pile. He said to me, ‘You good?’ I said, ‘Thank you, thank you.’ He said, ‘Don’t worry.’ ”
Sunday marked the second time during the season that the Astros have been involved in an incident involving an opposing player. Dodgers reliever Joe Kelly was suspended eight games last month for inciting a benches-clearing incident by throwing at the head of Alex Bregman and Carlos Correa.
Kelly was placed on the 10-day injured list Monday by the Dodgers, citing right shoulder inflammation.