Benches clear during Astros/Yankees blowout after Carlos Gomez bat flip
Houston Astros outfielder Carlos Gomez may be with a new team, but he hasn’t lost his penchant for making his opponent angry. Benches cleared briefly Tuesday, after the New York Yankees took offense to Gomez’s antics at the plate.
[On this week’s StewPod: Angels pitcher Hector Santiago talks about his huge autograph collection.]
With Houston up 9-0, Gomez came to the plate in the sixth inning. After popping up the pitch to center, Gomez was visibly frustrated, tossing his bat and yelling at himself as he ran out the play. It appeared he was upset at himself for not doing more with the offering.
Considering the score at that point, the Yankees weren’t happy with Gomez’s reaction. Someone in the Yankees dugout apparently started yelling at Gomez as he walked back to the Astros dugout. Gomez responded by yelling “shut up” a couple times.
Gomez was briefly restrained by the home plate ump, causing both benches to run out onto the field. No punches were thrown during the fracas, and no one was ejected following the incident.
Following the game, Yankees manager Joe Girardi admitted some of his players weren’t happy with Gomez tossing the bat after his plate appearance, and said he told Gomez to be professional following the at-bat.
Gomez said he heard some chirping from the Yankees dugout, and responded by telling them to shut up.
For what it’s worth, Gomez said he wasn’t trying to make anyone look bad when he tossed his bat.
Gomez would wind up getting the last laugh in more than one way. In his next at-bat, he belted a three-run homer to center. The hit was the cherry on top of the Astros 15-1 victory over New York.
As far as the arguments, we see things both ways. There’s nothing wrong with showing how much you care at the plate, and other players are actually praised for the type of behavior Gomez exhibited during the contest. Those players are “gamers” for caring so much.
At the same time, his team did have a nine-run lead, and you can understand why some members of the Yankees might take exception to Gomez being animated at that point in the game.
The whole thing probably should have ended at that point, but tensions flared and benches cleared. Overall, though, this was mostly harmless. No one got into a fight, and Gomez remained in the game.
We have to give credit to the Yankees for not throwing at him during his next at-bat. A number of teams would have escalated the situation the next time Gomez came to the plate.
Hopefully, this turns out to be a one-time deal. While the Yankees were mad, they seemed to get over the issue by the next time Gomez came to the plate. Gomez says he didn’t mean to offend anyone, and acted “professionally” after hitting the home run.
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Cooler heads prevailed, and that’s always a good thing in a situation like this.
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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
