By José Alejandro Rodríguez Zas
There is no doubt that Big leagues they are the scene where the best baseball in the world is played, but also where real action films are starred on the ground. And it is that, at all times, especially when there is strong rivalry on the field or there is some kind of personal or collective goal at stake, it is very frequent that the benches are emptied, caused by a gesture, an action, a look or a wrong to proceed.
In Wednesday’s game between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Toronto Blue Jays, held at Tropicana Field, before a crowd of almost 11,000 fans, one of these events took place, when the Rays outfielder, Kevin Kiermaier, received an intentionally-edged pitch by Toronto’s relief pitcher, left-hander Ryan Borucki.
Opening a shootout in the bottom of the eighth inning, Rays seventh hitter and center fielder Kiermaier took a ball to the center of his back after a 93 mph sinker went totally off course from Borucki’s pitching arm.
After the referees met and after a strong claim from Kevin Cash, manager of the Rays, the pitcher was expelled, considering, perhaps that the pitch had been intentional, because a night ago, the Rays patrolman took a card from Blue Jays catcher Alejandro Kirk dropped a touchdown after putting it out at the plate, refusing to return it.
Immediately, Puerto Rican Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo and pitching coach Pete Walker stormed off their bench to angrily protest the umpires’ decision, prompting Walker’s expulsion. Almost out of nowhere, players began to appear on the ground, emptying the benches of both teams, but without the situation getting worse.
“Yes, it was intentional,” said Kiermaier about the pitch, after the game, according to reported ESPN.com. “He practically threw me on my back. I think he even adjusted the strength of his movement, to be honest. But it is past. It didn’t hurt me at all, so I don’t care. Let’s move on, we’ve won a series and I hope we can face these guys again, really, ”he added.
Kevin Cash, manager of the Rays, had already publicly apologized to the Blue Jays organization after the event of the card and Montoyo, Toronto’s helmsman, had also made it clear that everything would be in the past, which, apparently, it was not so.
“Pete’s reaction told me all about this,” Montoyo told ESPN.com, claiming the pitch was accidental and not premeditated. “He missed and hit him, but I understand what this looks like. I understand that the Rays are upset after what had happened in the last two days. “
Without further ado, here is the video of what happened so that you can assess the facts with your own eyes.