8 ejected as Tigers, Yankees brawl
DETROIT — Once Detroit slugger Miguel Cabrera wrestled New York catcher Austin Romine to the ground at home plate, an afternoon game at Comerica Park collapsed into total chaos.
All the testiness that had been building between the Tigers and Yankees finally boiled over. The tally of Thursday’s fury: three benchclearing altercations, eight ejections, one beaning and a lot of angry words.
“I’m sure there are going to be suspensions on both sides,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said after his team’s 10-6 loss.
Girardi contended an early warning would have cut off the trouble before it escalated. He blamed the umpires for letting things go wild, saying, “Just a very poor job on their part.”
Last month, these same teams had a game at Yankee Stadium in which four batters were hit.
This time, Detroit’s Michael Fulmer hit Gary Sanchez with a pitch in the fifth, an inning after Sanchez had homered for the fourth time in the three-game series.
“I would never throw at anybody that hit a homer off of me, just because they hit a home run,” said Fulmer.
Tommy Kahnle was ejected after he threw behind Cabrera in the sixth, and Girardi was tossed after he argued.
“When they throw at me, it was OK . ... I was cool with that,” Cabrera said. “When they started arguing with the umpire, I said to Romine, ‘Calm down.’ ”
The game was finally about to resume when Cabrera stepped toward Romine, and the New York catcher, whose brother Andrew plays for the Tigers, took off his mask. Cabrera gave him a two-handed push.
Cabrera appeared to take a couple of swings, and the two ended up on the ground as players from both teams spilled onto the field.
An inning later, Yankees reliever Dellin Betances hit McCann in the helmet with a pitch, causing benches to empty again, and Betances and bench coach Rob Thompson were tossed.
“I threw him out, and that was to keep control of the game,” umpire crew chief Dana DeMuth said. “... It wasn’t necessarily of him intentionally beaning the batter, but to keep control of the situation.”
Tigers reliever Alex Wilson and manager Brad Ausmus were ejected in the eighth after Wilson hit Todd Frazier with a pitch. The benches cleared for a third time.
At one point, the ill will carried over to the Detroit dugout, where pitcher Justin Verlander and teammate Victor Martinez appeared to get into some sort of dispute.
“I was actually on the field, so I haven’t seen it and haven’t talked to them about it,” Ausmus said. “I’m aware of it, but I couldn’t tell you what it was about.”