On Monday night, Reds shortstop Brandon Phillips caused a little stir when he referred to the St. Louis Cardinals as "little bitches". The response? The Cardinals beat the Reds 7-3 on their own turf. Apparently, though, that wasn't the end of things, and on Tuesday night, the benches cleared during Phillips' leadoff at bat in the first inning. According to Rotoworld:
Benches Clear During First Inning Of Pivotal Cardinals/Reds Showdown
The whole thing started when Yadier Molina and Brandon Phillips were jawing in the batter's box to begin the bottom of the first inning. After the benches cleared, the confrontation escalated when Scott Rolen went after former teammate Chris Carpenter. No players were ejected from the game, but Tuesday's starter Johnny Cueto could clearly be seen kicking at someone leaning against the fence near home plate. Naturally, tensions remain pretty high between these two squads, so this might not be the last we've seen of this sort of thing.
Adds Buster Olney:
The odds of another bench-clearing brawl between the Reds and Cardinals tonight or tomorrow, given that there was no ejection in that first fight -- about 1:3. The teams of Dusty Baker and Tony La Russa always seem to wind up in scraps.
The Cardinals and the Reds have been locked in a dogfight for the NL Central for as long as the season’s gone on, and as of this week, the rivalry has only intensified.
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