Five ejections in Pirates’ win
PITTSBURGH — Yasiel Puig looked eager to take a big swing. And not with a bat, either.
An enraged Puig barreled into a bunch of Pirates during a bench-clearing fracas Sunday, and was among five ejections in the home team’s 7-5 victory over the Reds.
The trouble started in the fourth inning when Pirates starter Chris Archer threw his first pitch behind the waist of Derek Dietrich. His previous time up, Dietrich dropped the bat and stood to admire his 436-foot home run.
Dietrich froze in the batter’s box when Archer’s fastball whizzed by. Umpire Jeff Kellogg warned both benches and new Reds manager David Bell jogged from the dugout to the infield, arguing Archer should’ve been ejected.
“I was trying to go in,” Archer said. “I air-mailed a couple balls today. “I missed — missed my spot.”
The Reds weren’t buying it.
And when Archer was allowed to stay in the game, tempers quickly escalated.
The excitable Puig grabbed Pirates bench coach Tom Prince and tried to put the 54-year-old former catcher in a headlock. Puig kept trying to plow ahead, and eventually was held back by teammate Joey Votto.
“When people watch the ball go far away or do bat flips, like I do before, in the next (at-bat) try to strike out the guy,” Puig said. “Don’t try to hit him, because we can’t defend you because we can’t hit you with a bat or nothing.”
Puig, Bell and Reds pitcher Amir Garrett were ejected, as were Pirates pitchers Keone Kela and Felipe Vazquez.