ARLINGTON, Texas — Jose Bautista slid hard into second base, stood up and found himself in a face-toface confrontation with Texas’ Rougned Odor.
Next thing the Toronto slugger knew, he was rattled by an overhand right to the jaw that sent his batting helmet and sunglasses flying.
A feud between the two teams that has been simmering since Bautista’s bat flip in last year’s AL division series boiled over into a wild brawl that ultimately triggered six of the eight ejections in the Blue Jays’ 7-6 loss on Sunday.
“I was pretty surprised,” Bautista said. “I mean, obviously, that’s the only reason that he got me and he got me pretty good, so I have to give him that. It takes a little bit bigger man to knock me down.”
Perhaps it’s a good thing the Rangers and Blue Jays have played for the final time this season. As for the playoffs, well, that would be interesting.
Texas is headed to Oakland, and the Blue Jays back home to Toronto, the site of last year’s emotional meeting in the playoffs. That’s when Bautista capped a wild seventh inning with a three-run home run and the infamous bat flip that angered Texas.
This time, Bautista was upset by getting hit by an eighth-inning pitch from Texas rookie Matt Bush (1-0), who got his first major league victory two days after his debut and 12 years after he was the No. 1 overall pick in the draft.
Toronto Manager John Gibbons, who was ejected in the third inning over an argument about balls and strikes, came back to the field for the brawl.
RANGERS 7, BLUE JAYS 6
He suggested the Rangers were finally retaliating for Bautista’s bat flip in the eighth inning of the last of seven games between the teams this season. Texas beat Toronto in a series for the first time since 2012, but the Blue Jays had a 4-3 edge for the season.
“It was ugly and unfortunate,” Gibbons said. “To me, it was gutless. The other 29 teams, they come at you right away, but to wait until the end, it just sort of tells you something. Everybody is going to say, ‘Oh, it was a one-run game. The ball got away.’ That ain’t going to fly.”
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.”
“I didn’t want to sit here and drink too much wine,” Gibbons said. “Ya got to go out there. I’m sure the league will say something about that but it’s kind of the manager’s responsibility.”
Bautista, who was kept out of most of the melee by a bear hug from Texas veteran Adrian Beltre, was ejected. Same for Odor, who shoved Bautista before punching him — along with Toronto’s Josh Donaldson and Texas bench coach Steve Buechele.
Bautista’s brawl-triggering slide forced Odor to throw wildly to first on an attempted double play on a grounder by Justin Smoak, but Texas was awarded an inning-ending double play on the Chase Utley rule.
When the game resumed, Blue Jays reliever Jesse Chavez hit Prince Fielder with the next pitch when the game resumed. He was ejected automatically because of the warning issued after Bush hit Bautista.
Blue Jays bench coach Demarlo Hale also was tossed because of Chavez’s pitch because he was filling in for Gibbons.
Toronto first base coach Tim Leiper was ejected in the third inning in a separate dispute before Gibbons was tossed.
“I think it was just two hard-nosed baseball teams that play the game hard,” said Texas Manager Jeff Banister, who exchanged words with Gibbons as the field was being cleared. “They like their club. We like our club. I take offense to everybody that thinks this is a game that shouldn’t be played hard, that it shouldn’t be played with emotion and intensity.”
Odor wasn’t available to reporters after the game.
RED SOX 10, ASTROS 9 Xander Bogaerts hit a three-run home run and Ryan Hanigan had three singles and drove in four to lead Boston. YANKEES 7, WHITE SOX 5 Pinch-hitter Chase Headley lined a tiebreaking double in the seventh inning, Carlos Beltran hit his 400th career home run and New York wrapped up a successful homestand.
TIGERS 6, ORIOLES 5 J.D. Martinez and Miguel Cabrera homered on consecutive pitches in the eighth inning, and Detroit ended Baltimore’s seven-game winning streak.
ANGELS 3, MARINERS 0 Hector Santiago pitched eight innings of two-hit ball and Daniel Nava’s two-run, two-out single in the eighth inning gave Los Angeles the cushion it needed to complete a three-game sweep.
ATHLETICS 7, RAYS 6 Danny Valencia hit three home runs, including a two-run shot in the ninth inning that lifted Oakland to a victory. TWINS 5, INDIANS 1 Tyler Duffey pitched seven scoreless innings, Eddie Rosario drove in three runs and Minnesota won its first road series of the season.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
PIRATES 2, CUBS 1 Starling Marte singled with one out in the seventh inning to end Jon Lester’s no-hit bid, then scored on Jung Ho Kang’s double to put Gerrit Cole and Pittsburgh ahead to stay.
MARLINS 5, NATIONALS 1 Jose Fernandez struck out 11 over seven innings and drove in two runs during a three-run sixth to help Miami defeat Washington.
GIANTS 2, DIAMONDBACKS 1 Manager Bruce Bochy successfully challenged to get a game-ending double play after Brandon Crawford singled in a run in the ninth inning and San Francisco completed a four-game sweep.
ROCKIES 4, METS 3 Pinch-hitter Ryan Raburn came through with a go-ahead, tworun home run in the seventh inning that carried Colorado past New York for a three-game sweep. REDS 9, PHILLIES 4 Eugenio Suarez hit a three-run home run, Jay Bruce went 3 for 3 and Cincinnati rebounded from a difficult loss Saturday when Suarez was cut down at the plate on the final play of the game.
BREWERS 3, PADRES 2 Chris Carter hit a towering home run and a tiebreaking RBI double, breaking out of a long slump and leading Milwaukee to a victory.
CARDINALS 5, DODGERS 2 Matt Carpenter hit a home run for the fifth time in eight games, Yadier Molina had a tiebreaking two-run double in the top of the seventh inning and St. Louis beat Los Angeles to avoid being swept in the three-game series.
INTERLEAGUE
ROYALS 4, BRAVES 2 (13) Kendrys Morales hit a walk-off two-run home run with two out in the 13th inning and Kansas City overcame a rare blown save by Wade Davis to defeat Atlanta.
Sports on 05/16/2016