Baker backs Maldonado after benches clear
Opportunity aligned for the Astros on Wednesday. Jose Altuve and Yordan Alvarez returning from injury rendered their deepest lineup in weeks. Framber Valdez, their ace, toed the mound against the Rangers. The Astros awoke one game behind Texas in the division, poised to potentially seize a share of first place for the first time all season.
That, suffice to say, did not happen. Instead, Valdez exited in the fourth inning of his shortest start of the year. Altuve was removed in the sixth with the Rangers authoring a rout. Texas avoided a sweep and left Minute Maid Park with its AL West lead intact, at two games, handing the Astros a 13-5 loss that offered some extra drama.
Tensions rising in the early innings bubbled over in the fifth. Benches cleared after Adolis García struck a grand slam off Seth Martinez to cap a seven-run Texas inning and turn the game into a blowout. Astros catcher Martín Maldonado and Rangers second baseman Marcus Semien were at the heart of the hubbub.
Texas starter Andrew Heaney hit Yordan Alvarez, just back from the injured list, with a pitch in the first inning. Valdez hit Semien with a pitch in the third. Umpires warned both benches.
Semien homered off Valdez in the fourth inning. He appeared to say something to Valdez as he rounded third base. Semien and Maldonado exchanged words at home plate. Semien held his finger to his lips in a shushing motion as he headed for the dugout.
Semien stood on third for García’s blast in the fifth, which landed 448 feet away on the train tracks. Semien jogged home and hopped onto home plate with both feet. Maldonado seemed to take exception. The catcher was held back but said something to García when he reached the area.
Maldonado did not specify postgame what elicited his reaction: “Two guys trying to compete,” he said. “Two good teams fighting for the division. And I think every player in the big leagues has that competitive mindset out there.”
Asked if he disliked Semien jumping on home plate after García’s grand slam, Maldonado agreed: “No. But that wasn’t the stuff that got me going.”
“You jaw at a guy, you expect to get something in return,” Astros manager Dusty Baker said. “Maldy wasn’t going to go away like he was some little punk, you know what I mean?”
Both benches and bullpens converged at the plate. No punches were thrown, and the teams soon returned to their respective sides. Maldonado and Semien were both ejected from the game. Crew chief Dan Bellino told a pool reporter the players were ejected: “For instigating a bench-clearing incident.”
What led to that incident?
“The two players exchanged words,” Bellino said. “They had exchanged words earlier after Semien hit a home run. When they did it again on that other home run, which caused the benches to clear, the two players were removed for their misconduct.”
Said Baker: “They kicked them both out because they said Semien started it but then Maldy continued it and ignited it. And they had to do something before things really got out of hand. What’s a guy supposed to do?”
Said Semien to The Dallas Morning News: “When I hit the home run, I told him ‘We’re going to win this game.’ He said it was going to be just like it was when I was in Oakland. When I was in Oakland, I think they won the division twice and we won it once while he was there. Whatever. After I scored on Adolis’ grand slam, I told him, ‘I told you.’ And all of a sudden their bench is out there.”
Astros regulars Altuve, Alex Bregman and Kyle Tucker were soon removed as well. Altuve, just back from a 17-game IL stint due to an oblique strain, exited after the sixth. Bregman and Tucker were replaced on defense before the eighth. There was little reason to keep them in given the score.