Bautista’s slide into second was judged to have violated a new rule created to prevent such plays, he was ruled out but then ejected from the game along with Odor, Blue Jays third Baseman Josh Donaldson and several other coaches and players. If you recall, Bautista hit a three-run home run against the Rangers in game five of last year’s American League Divisional Series, capped off by a celebratory bat flip.
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“I was pretty surprised”, Bautista said. As for the playoffs, well, that would be interesting.
“Obviously, we are going to be issuing discipline”, said Torre, who was at Chase Field for a pre-game ceremony honoring the late Joe Garagiola.
It was the last meeting of the regular season between the teams, and Bautista was facing the Rangers for the final time when rookie Matt Bush opened the eighth inning with a 96 miles per hour fastball that hit the slugger on the left arm and ricocheted off a thigh. Of course, our losing two games here and then the three games, especially games four and five, in NY were insane.
“Zero respect for Odor”.
Toronto Blue Jays manager John Gibbons, left, is kept from Texas Rangers manager Jeff Banister, right, after a bench clearing fight during the eighth inning of a baseball game in Arlington, Texas, Sunday, May 15, 2016.
Things between the Rangers and Blue Jays got very heated Sunday night in Texas. “To me, it was gutless”.
“Nowadays, something happens social media is going to take over”, reliever Dellin Betances said. “Right now, I’m not going to go into talking about anything like that because there’s nothing to talk about yet”. “You get payback, but you get it right away in hockey”.
Crew chief Dale Scott told a pool reporter that Gibbons’ return “will be in the report and Major League Baseball will take care of it”.
“It bothers me”, Torre said. “Ya got to go out there”. I said, ‘We lost but it was still the most exciting World Series I’ve been a part of.
Bautista, who was kept out of most of the melee by a bear hug from Texas veteran Adrian Beltre, was ejected as a result of the brawl.
In addition to Donaldson, there was another A’s connection because pitcher Jesse Chavez, now with the Blue Jays, sent a message by hitting Prince Fielder with his next pitch.
There’s blame on both Bautista and Odor on this one, but let’s look at them individually. “They like their club”.
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While saying “I never liked it” as a player or manager, Torre said there are cultural differences in play. A suspended player can’t be replaced on the 25-man roster, so the Rangers are nearly certain to option a reliever to the minors to create a spot for a position player.
