NEW YORK, NY – It was an eventful afternoon at Comerica Park in Detroit yesterday. The Yankees and Tigers were wrapping up a three game set. The Bombers were looking to complete a sweep and get out of town. Instead the teams duked it out as the beanballs flew and the benches cleared three times. In the end there were eight ejections in the heated afternoon affair. Suspensions are likely to follow.
The fireworks started as hot-hitting Gary Sanchez was plunked in the fifth inning after hitting a home run in the fourth. Tigers hurler Michael Fulmer claimed a nerve issue and numbness led to the beaning and there was no intent. That’s a tough sell after Sanchez’s homer in the previous inning. No warnings were issued after this incident. In the the sixth inning, Yankee reliever Tommy Kahnle threw behind Miguel Cabrera and was promptly ejected. This drew the ire of Yankee manager Joe Girardi who was tossed for his protest.
Before another pitch was thrown, Cabrera confronted Yanks catcher Austin Romine, shoving the backstop before throwing a couple of punches that didn’t land. Romine tackled Cabrera to the ground as the benches cleared for the first time. Cabrera and Romine were both ejected.
In the seventh, a pitch got away from Dellin Betances, hitting Tigers catcher James McCann in the helmet. The benches cleared again and after a short protest by the Tigers, Betances was ejected. The Yanks brought in Robertson who hit the next batter on a two-strike count. It was clearly an accident and Robertson was not ejected. In the 8th inning, Tigers pitcher Alex Wilson plunked Todd Frazier, leading the benches to clear for the final time.
It was an ugly affair all around. Any suspensions will only hurt the Yankees, who are trying to battle for the division. Sanchez will likely be suspended for his part in the Thursday melee. This will be a big blow to the Yanks as Sanchez has been hot. The Tigers are out of it and won’t really be hurt if Cabrera is suspended for a couple of games. There’s never a good time for suspensions but lets hope this brawl doesn’t cost the Yankees too much.
Theater of the Absurd continues… #AmazinMets pic.twitter.com/4t00tbSF2i
— Meet The Matts (@MeetTheMatts) August 24, 2017
While the Yanks and Tigers were brawling in Detroit, the Mets were beating themselves up again. This time Michael Conforto dislocated his shoulder swinging in his fifth-inning at-bat. I’m not sure how that even happened. How do you dislocate your shoulder swinging a bat? Its a freak occurrence. There must be a voodoo curse on the Mets for things like this to keep happening. We’ll see how much time Conforto misses with this injury. Maybe the Mets should just end their season now. Someone might get struck by lightning, or be maimed in a freak gardening accident. It’s best to play it safe and shut up shop.
Wait till next year. It can only get better.
