Orioles stand up for Garcia after sloppy loss to Jays
then stared down Garcia and took three slow steps out of the batter’s box before flipping his bat and starting a stroll around the bases.
As he rounded the bases, eventempered second baseman Ryan Flaherty pointed at him. “I just told him it was wrong and just to run the bases,” Flaherty said. He “is obviously one of the game’s best players and there’s a right and wrong way to play this game. That’s not the right way.”
Adam Jones jawed at Bautista as he rounded second, then yelled at him again between innings.
“That was just uncalled for,” Jones said after the game. “I don’t want to cuss, but it was just uncalled for. I’m not going to let nobody show up my teammates in a situation like that when a guy is definitely not trying to hurt somebody.
“This is my team, man,” Jones added. “I’m not going to let nobody come here and say anything to nobody on this team. It’s just not going to work. You’re not going to sit there and pimp me. You pimp the pitcher, you’re pimping me too. He’s hit home runs. I’ve hit home runs against them and I’ve never pimped one like he did today. I’ve been hit by them many times and I’ve never said anything. I just went to first. I see his sentiments were different, so OK.”
Bautista responded to Blue Jays reporters by saying, “I could care less what Adam Jones is saying.”
The Orioles didn’t want to use Garcia in that instance, but were forced to after starter Bud Norris lasted just 21⁄ innings, his shortest start in nearly three years.
This game was one of the Orioles’ worst over the season’s first 14 games. Norris was tagged for nine runs, tying a career high. All three batters he walked scored, including two in a six-run second inning that also saw the Orioles commit two costly errors.
The Orioles’ beef with Bautista has a deep history. He homered off Orioles reliever Darren O’Day on April 12 in Baltimore after he took exception to a pitch O’Day threw that was high and tight. O’Day and Bautista also jawed last year after Bautista made a hand motion at O’Day while he rounded third during a home run trot.
“You’d just like to see him run around the bases,” Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. “I know the reality of what went on. You understand what it looks like. We’re going to take the high ground. We’re not trying to throw at anyone. But I understand [Toronto manager John Gibbons] and I understand him thinking what it might look like. But if you knew, the kid is just trying to throw [a strike]. It’s an emotional game played by people who care. What are you going to do. You’d just like to see people react like it’s not the first time they hit a home run.”
Bautista bit back after the game, telling reporters the pitch was premeditated.
“They were pointing at the fact this kid who threw the ball behind me today is a rookie,” he said. “I think it’s all pretty well planned out and premeditated, and I think they hide behind the way their manager acts and conducts himself on the field. They’re going to continue to keep doing that until something comes down from MLB.”
Bautista’s surly display Tuesday sent the Orioles into a boil, especially because he was showing up the team’s 22-year-old Rule 5 pick. Before making the Opening Day roster, Garcia hadn’t pitched above Low-A ball.
“You’ve got to look at the situation,” Jones said. “You’ve got a 22-year-old guy, a Rule 5, he was on buses last year. He’s more nervous facing him than the other way around. The last thing he wants to do is hurt somebody, especially hit somebody shoulders or higher. Come on. The last thing you want to do is that.”
Garcia, who was making his fourth major league appearance, said he was just trying to pitch Bautista inside. “I have no reason to hit the guy,” he said. “I really didn’t think anything about it right away and then I kind of saw his reaction and that’s when it all started.”
“It’s unfortunate that there’s hundreds of thousands of kids that are growing up playing baseball or softball and they’re going to watch that on TV tonight and think that’s the way to do it,” Orioles catcher Caleb Joseph said. “That’s unfortunate. He’s a young guy. He’s inexperienced. Hewas in A ball last year. I think it would be interesting to see when the last time he pitched back-to-back days was. He was a starter. There’s just no reason for us to go after him there. It’s just unfortunate that kids are going to see that on TV and think that’s OK.”