Benches clear after Cubs’ Junior Lake homers, taunts Marlins bench
The Chicago Cubs and Miami Marlins were involved in a minor bench-clearing dust up on Wednesday immediately following a home run by Chicago’s Junior Lake.
In the sixth inning, Lake deposited Dan Haren’s third pitch well beyond the left field wall for a two-run homer, which cut Miami’s six-run lead to a four-run advantage. His trip around the bases was adventurous to say the least, beginning with a bat flip and slow approach to first base. Lake milked the trot for all it was worth and then made a shushing gesture to Miami’s bench as he rounded third base.
That was the tipping point. By the time he reached home, the fireworks were underway.
Marlins catcher J.T. Realmuto was the first to exchange words with Lake, then the benches slowly emptied as Anthony Rizzo did his best to restrain his teammate.
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Here’s a complete version of the altercation.
The altercation never turned physical, at least not beyond some incidental bumps and light shoves mostly used to direct Lake back toward his dugout. There were no ejections, either, but it was definitely heated for those few moments.
Following the game, the Cubs took the high road, with manager Joe Maddon offering an apology to the Marlins.
Also worth noting, in Monday’s game Starlin Castro was criticized for taking too long rounding the bases on a home run in Miami. Nothing came of that incident on Monday or Tuesday, but Castro was hit by a Haren pitch earlier in Wednesday’s game, so that may have added to the Cubs frustration.
As for Lake, he understood he was wrong for the gesture and also looked to make amends.
As he reached first, he knew he was wrong but said constant chirping from Marlins’ dugout prompted him to signal quiet sign to dugout.
— Mark Gonzales (@MDGonzales) June 4, 2015
In the end, it’s much ado about nothing. Both teams said their piece and the game was completed with Miami winning 7-3 to take two of three in the series.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813
