A fight — not where a bunch of players stand around kind of shoving — erupted between the Seattle Mariners and Los Angeles Angels Sunday in Anaheim. There were a decent number of punches thrown and lots of drama that meant baseball didn’t resume for quite a while. Eventually, there were eight ejections — six players and both managers.
On Saturday night, the Angels and the Yankees were both pitching when a ball sailed close to Mike Trout’s head on its way to the backstop in the ninth inning. The Angels star was unhappy and said as much after the game.
“If you can’t pitch inside, don’t throw inside,” said Trout, who spoke to the Orange County Register. “If you’re going to hit me, hit me in the ribs. Don’t hit me in the head. I don’t know if that’s the intent, but… anything at the head, you don’t do that.”
It’s a common refrain among players. Players just need to stay away from the head when throwing hard objects up to 95 miles per hour. Mariners pitcher Erik Swanson said that the pitch got away from him.
Game three on Sunday went into the late innings.
Julio Rodriguez had a lot of success in his first game, as Andrew Wantz was able to start him early.
In the next inning, Wantz hit Jesse Winker with a pitch. It looked like Winker might take his base but it was on as someone from the Angels’ dugout got his attention and then, it was on. Winker appeared to be arguing with Phil Nevin, the interim Angels manager. Winker and Mariners shortstop JP Crawford both threw punches during the benches-clearing brawl.
At the end of the inning, as umpires were trying to sort things out, Raisel Iglesias decided to throw a container of sunflower seeds onto the field.
Players were ejected, after several players could be seen visibly throwing multiple punches during a fracas. After the dust settled, umpires ejected: Nevin, Winker, Crawford, Rodriguez, Iglesias, Wantz, Angels’ reliever Ryan Tepera and Mariners manager Scott Servais.
