Scrums fill JaysYankees game
Benches, bullpens empty after Jays’ Smoak hit by pitch.
New York Yankees righthander Luis Severino was ejected after hitting the Blue Jays’ Justin Smoak with a pitch in the second inning Monday night in Toronto, leading to an angry shoving match between the teams.
Both benches and bullpens emptied and several scrums broke out near home plate after Severino threw inside to Smoak with his first pitch of the inning and then hit him in the leg with his second.
There was plenty of jostling in a large mass of players, but it did not appear any punches were thrown.
The scrap came after Blue Jays lefty J.A. Happ threw consecutive inside pitches to Chase Headley in the top of the inning, hitting him with the second. That led to a warning from plate umpire Todd Tichenor.
Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson, who had been hit on the elbow by a pitch from Severino in the bottom of the first, walked in from hi s position and exchanged words with the New York dugout after Headley was hit.
Both benches and bullpens cleared that time, too, but no punches were thrown.
The Yankees have lost a record eight straight games in Toronto and 11 of 14 overall.
Dodgers: With Sunday’s win, Los Angeles clinched the NL West and a date with the Nationals, the champions of the East, in the National League divi sion series in two weeks. The two clubs will jockey for home-field advantage during the final six games of the season. Washington held a 11/2-game advantage entering play Monday.
Diamondbacks: Rubby De La Rosa is trying to avoid a second Tommy John surgery by having a stem cell injection in his ailing elbow. Manager Chip Hale says he didn’t have a timeframe for De La Rosa’s return other than the right-hander, 27, will miss the remainder of the season.
Athletics: Sonny Gray will come off the DL to make his first start in nearly two months against the Angels on Wednesday. Gray has not pitched in a game since Aug. 6 because of a forearm strain.
Royals: Kansas City started Sunday’s win at Detroit with a single by Billy Burns, a triple by Whit Merrifield and a double by Kendrys Morales before Salvador Perez’s tworun homer made it 4-0. It was the first time the Royals’ first four hitters combined for a cycle since Sept. 30, 2006, also at Detroit.
Blue Jays: Toronto entered Monday’s game against the Yankees with its st ar ting pitchers allowing two earned runs or fewer in 10 consecutive games, Toronto’s longest streak since April, 1984.
Red Sox: David Ortiz has 35 homers and 90 RBIs at Tampa Bay’s Tropicana Field, which is the most of any visiting player. Alex Rodriguez is next with 30 homers and 73 RBIs.
T i ge r s : S u n d ay ’s 1 2 -9 home loss to the Royals lasted 3 hours, 51 minutes, making it Detroit’s longest nine-inning game of the season.
Cubs: Chicago finished an MLB-best 57-24 at Wrigl e y F i e l d . I t ’s t h e C u b s ’ most home wins since they went 58-19 at the West Side Grounds in 1910.
Orioles: Baltimore fini shed the re gular season 50-31 at Camden Yards. It was the second time in three seasons the Orioles finished with at least 50 wins at home.