Tempers flare during Giants’ victory over the Padres
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The San Francisco Giants and San Diego Padres managed to avoid tense situations in the field all night. That wasn’t the case at the plate. Tempers flared in the ninth inning as Angel Pagan and Derek Norris exchanged words.
Both benches were warned following the incident, though no one was ejected.
So, what was the cause of this kerfuffle? Turns out, it was chewing gum.
Pagan said the whole ordeal was an accident.
Pagan would triple later in the at-bat, but was left stranded on third.
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The oufielder would have the last laugh, however, as the Giants pulled off the 1-0 victory in extras.
REDS WALK IT OFF AGAIN
Just a few hours after Wednesday’s game (which actually ended Thursday), the Reds added another walkoff victory against the Pirates. This time around, though, the Pirates have no one to blame but themselves for the loss.
With men on first and third, Marlon Bryd hit a line drive out to right field. Gregory Polanco charged the ball in order to get himself in good position for a throw home, but failed to come up with the catch. Polanco was charged with an error, though the play would have been difficult to pull off had he actually made the catch.
The Pirates will travel to Milwaukee to take on Brewers on Friday. Cincinnati will take on St. Louis at home Friday.
TWINS FINALLY SCORE A RUN
It took three games, but the Minnesota Twins finally scored their first run of the season. In the seventh inning of Thursday’s game, it finally happened. Joe Mauer walked to open the frame, and Kennys Vargas drove him in with a double later in the inning.
The club went 24 scoreless innings before notching their first run of the year.
For now, the run will have to be a moral victory. Minnesota dropped another game against the Detroit Tigers, this time falling 7-1. With the loss, the Twins became one of the five teams with an 0-3 record.
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RANGERS EXPLODE FOR 10 RUNS
A day after losing by 10 runs, the Texas Rangers decided to put a crooked number on the scoreboard. Texas exploded for 10 runs against the Oakland Athletics on Thursday.
Rookie Kendall Graveman took the brunt of the punishment. After an exceptional spring, in which he allowed one earned run in 25 1/3 innings, Graveman gave up eight total runs Thursday.
Following the game, Graveman gave all the credit to Texas.
Mitch Moreland and Shin-Soo Choo got in on the fun, homering against the rookie pitcher. Graveman departed after just 3 1/3 innings. He was charged with seven earned runs.
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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik
