The Houston Astros and Oakland Athletics got into a benches-clearing brawl in the bottom of the seventh inning on Sunday after outfielder Ramón Laureano was hit by a pitch for the second time in the game.
Astros and Athletics brawl after Ramón Laureano hit with pitch
As the A’s swept the Astros, benches cleared after Houston hit an Oakland better for the fifth time in the series.
Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
As Oakland was on its way to way to a three-game sweep over Houston, Astros pitcher Humberto Castellanos plunked Laureano with a breaking ball. The two exchanged words during a long walk to first base until Laureano charged at the Houston dugout after being provoked by Astros hitting coach Alex Cintrón. That led to both benches clearing in an ugly scene that is sure to draw suspensions from MLB.
You can watch the entire video here:
Oakland was talking a ton of trash to Houston on their way to the sweep. The Astros had already hit five A’s batters during the series, while no Houston players were hit.
This is the Astros’ second benches-clearing brawl of the year. The first one against the Dodgers drew an eight-game suspension for LA pitcher Joe Kelly. Commissioner Rob Manfred doesn’t want opposing teams to retaliate against the Astros following the cheating scandal that consumed the sport earlier this year. Fans around the country have been fed up with how much protection MLB is providing Houston.
It will be unfortunate if Oakland is hit with significant suspensions because they might be the hottest team in baseball right now. Laureano has been a big part of that, entering the game with a .938 OPS on the short season. How about some punishment for Cintron, who was yelling at Laureano to come get him?
Opposing teams having beef with the Astros is going to be a storyline all season long.
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