Eight ejected after Angels, Mariners mix it up
ANAHEIM >> When the Angels made a late decision Sunday to go with little-used reliever Andrew Wantz as their opener on the mound, the Mariners suspected they might be about to get payback for a fastball that got awfully close to Mike Trout's head the previous night.
The Angels insist that wasn't their intent — and yet Wantz threw a pitch behind Julio Rodriguez's head in the first inning and then hit Jesse Winker in the hip to start the second.
A wild, angry brawl ensued, resulting in the ejections of six players and both managers. The fracas will be remembered by both teams a whole lot longer than the Angels' 2-1 win over Seattle.
“That probably shouldn't happen, what happened out there today,” Seattle manager Scott Servais said. “Emotions running high, but it was pretty clear what was going on. They switched, put an opener in there to throw some balls at us.”
Both teams threw numerous punches in the melee that began when Winker charged the Angels' emptying dugout after yelling at interim manager Phil Nevin.
The game was delayed 18 minutes by the four minutes of mayhem. Along with both managers, the Angels lost Wantz and relievers Raisel Iglesias and Ryan Tepera, while the Mariners lost Winker, Rodriguez and J.P. Crawford.
Wantz's pitch behind Rodriguez certainly appeared to be a response to Erik Swanson's 95 mph fastball near Trout's head in the ninth inning Saturday night. Wantz insisted that wasn't the case.
“I was pretty amped up for my first start, and the first one just got away from me,” Wantz said. “I was sweating. First day game I've pitched in (in the majors), and that's that. Second one to Winker was a cut fastball inside and (I) just yanked it.”
Umpires issued warnings to both dugouts after Wantz's pitch behind Rodriguez