Stanton, Fiers set to renew acquaintances after controversy

OAKLAND, Calif. — For however long Mike Fiers and Giancarlo Stanton are in the big leagues, they are going to be linked because the righthanded pitcher fractured Stanton’s jaw and caused dental damage with an errant pitch on Sept. 11, 2014.

Fiers was a Brewer and Stanton a Marlin when that frightening scene occurred. In June the pair had a dust-up when Fiers, then with the Tigers, hit Stanton with a pitch in the left arm

With Fiers now with the A’s and scheduled to start Wednesday night against the Yankees at the Oakland Coliseum, it’s likely the pair will face each other again.

“It doesn’t matter,” Stanton said on June 4 when asked about the possibility of seeing Fiers again after getting hit by him, then homering off him in De- troit. “We’ll get there when we get there.”

Wednesday is “there’’ for the two.

In June, Fiers drilled Stanton on the left arm with an 88-mph fastball. Stanton shouted at him and the two exchanged words before Stanton eventually went to first, escorted by Tigers catcher James McCann.

“I mean, if that happened before and you’re gonna come in, make sure you don’t hit me,’’ Stanton said after the game. “You’ve got to get it over the plate or make sure you don’t hit me.’’

That was Stanton’s message to Fiers, who called Stanton’s reaction “childish.”

“Anybody watching the game knows I’m not throwing at him,” Fiers said. “He’s going to act how he’s going to act, but it kind of shows his character. Obviously, I wasn’t throwing at him.”

Stanton said considering the history, he wasn’t going to accept getting hit by Fiers.

“Obviously, anything like that happens, another ball like that, no matter how many years it is, I’m not gonna be happy,’’ Stanton said. “I’m not just gonna walk to first and everything will be OK.”

The outfielder said he was aware there was no intent from Fiers — and then came up again in the sixth with the Yankees trailing by two runs.

He hit a 456-foot homer, complete with a fearsome bat flip and then pointed at Fiers as he crossed the plate.

He said he made the gesture so Fiers would “get the point.”

“I was trying to help us get back in the game,” Stanton said.

Asked if it was good revenge, Stanton said: “It was nice. A win would be better. Oh well.”