Cactus League turns thorny as tempers flare
MESA, Ariz. — The A’s and Giants met for the first time in 2018 on Monday, a day that started on friendly terms but turned hostile.
A’s manager Bob Melvin quipped in the morning that it was going to be odd see longtime A’s pitching coach Curt Young in a Giants uniform.
“I was going to ask him if he’d at least wear white shoes today so it wouldn’t look that odd,” Melvin said of the Giants’ new pitching coach.
Then came the game — and a lot of discord for a simple midMarch get-together. Franklin Barreto hit a fifth-inning, two-run homer off Giants reliever Sam Dyson, who followed up by brushing back A’s cleanup hitter Khris Davis, throwing high and tight.
Davis didn’t appreciate it. Tempers flared, and words were exchanged, on the field and off. Giants catcher Nick Hundley barked toward the A’s dugout.
Davis drew a walk and exited for a pinch-runner, and Dyson was pulled after being rocked for four runs. Friction still ensued.
Roberto Gomez replaced Dyson and immediately hit A’s prospect Ramon Laureano on a hand. Laureano left the game and went for X-rays; the A’s said they will give a medical update Tuesday.
In the eighth, the A’s appeared to retaliate when Daniel Gossett drilled Orlando Calixte on the back, prompting umpire Mike DiMuro to issue warnings to both benches.
Calixte stared at Gossett and was slow taking first base but was able to score on Jarrett Parker’s double. After crossing the plate, Calixte nearly crossed paths with Gossett, but the sizable Mac Williamson, the next hitter, got in the way and escorted his teammate toward the dugout.
Giants manager Bruce Bochy wasn’t happy Calixte was hit over confrontations that didn’t involve him.
“Here you’ve got one of the nicest kids, Calixte, taking one in the back in spring training. It’s not worth talking about,” Bochy said.
Across the field, Melvin was asked about the rarity of an umpire warning both teams in a spring training game.
“Sometimes boys will be boys,” Melvin said. “That’s the thing, you just never know the intent on either side. I don’t think anybody was hit on purpose.”
A’s first baseman Matt Olson said the emotions on both sides weren’t surprising even for mid-March: “We’re out there playing the same game. When things flare up and something like that happens, it’s going to be the same as during the season.”
Bochy defended Dyson, who has a 12.27 ERA, by saying, “He’s trying to find it. He’s been off. You look at him, he’s out of sync.”
That hardly curbed the bad blood. Calixte’s run was the difference in a 6-5 Giants victory. The teams meet once more in Arizona — Saturday in Scottsdale — and three times in the Bay Area before the season opens.