MELEE MAYHEM: ANGELS, M’S FIGHT
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 Halos 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 victory over Seattle.
“That probably shouldn’t happen in the game, 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. Got out of hand from there, and kind of a black eye.”
Both teams threw numerous punches in the melee that began when Winker charged the Angels’ emptying dugout after yelling at Angels interim manager Phil Nevin.
“Look, you play eight games in a matter of a week against the same team, things like this happen,” Nevin said after L.A.’s eighth
Angels 2, Mariners 1
game in 11 days against Seattle. “The scheduling, tensions, that’s baseball sometimes, unfortunately. There’s some ugly incidents once in a while. I think that’s just what happened today.”
The game was delayed about 18 minutes by the four minutes of mayhem. Along with both managers, the Angels lost Wantz, closer Raisel Iglesias and reliever Ryan Tepera, while the Mariners lost Winker, Rodriguez and J.P. Crawford — three of the first four hitters in their lineup.
“My only comment is it’s classless,” Seattle starter Marco Gonzales said. “To throw at Julio, who’s a kid, over something that happened last night when we were trying to win a ballgame in the ninth inning (and not) put the tying run on base, it’s just classless to come out and change your pitcher before the game. It’s clear. The intention is clear.”
Notable
Ronald Acuña Jr. wasn’t starting in the Braves’ game against the Dodgers after fouling a ball off his left foot in Saturday night’s game. The star outfielder moved around the Braves clubhouse Sunday afternoon with his left knee on a medical scooter to keep his foot elevated. Tests showed no fracture but Acuña said he couldn’t put pressure on his foot.