Benches empty during NL wild-card game after Jake Arrieta hit by pitch
What’s a one-game playoff without some drama? Tensions certainly ran high during Wednesday’s NL wild card contest between the Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh Pirates.
Things boiled over in the seventh inning, With Jake Arrieta at the plate, Pirates pitcher Tony Watson threw a fastball inside, hitting Arrieta in the left hip. As Arrieta made his way down to first, he stared at Watson, eventually voicing his displeasure with the pitcher’s decision.
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That caused both benches to clear and both bullpens to empty.
While no punches were thrown, a few players were pretty animated during the fracas. Dexter Fowler could be seen screaming in the middle of the pile, while Sean Rodriguez had to be held back by three teammates.
Rodriguez was particularly angry about the whole thing, and took out his anger on a cooler in the dugout once teammates were able to lead him away from the scrum.
Rodriguez was the only player ejected from the contest.
Arrieta hadn’t allowed a run in the game, stifling the Pirates bats. But he had previously hit two Pirates earlier in the contest, leading many to believe Watson’s pitch was retaliation. Arrieta hit Francisco Cervelli in the hand with a pitch in the fifth inning, and hit Josh Harrison with an errant slider in the sixth.
It’s tough to argue either hit-by-pitch was intentional. Cervelli was barely nicked by the pitch, while Harrison’s appeared to come on a slider that Arrieta lost control of mid-pitch.
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Both Arrieta and manager Joe Maddon must have been pretty fired up following the near brawl, because Arrieta stole second on the next pitch by Watson. With the steal, both men seemed to send the message “we’re not backing down.” The two teams have some history too, as Pirates rookie Jung-Ho Kang’s season ended in mid-September when Cubs outfield Chris Coghlan took him out sliding into second base.
The next inning, Arrieta returned to the mound and kept the Pirates off the board again. He did not retaliate by hitting any batters during the seventh inning.
With everything on the line, it’s no surprise emotions boiled over. Regardless of the outcome, we get the sense these two teams might not be so friendly with each other next season.
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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
