Sep 10, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies first base Bryce Harper (3) is held back by Tampa Bay Rays shortstop JosŽ Caballero (7) and shortstop Taylor Walls (6) during scuffle in the eighth inning at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images
Boys being boys.
That's how Phillies manager Rob Thomson described the emotions spilling over in the eighth inning of the Phillies 9-4 win over Tampa Bay on Tuesday.
Maybe it was. Maybe it was a throwback to an older era of baseball where pitchers let off some steam by intentionally beaning a hitter with a fastball. Or maybe it was a cowardly thing to do, which prompted both benches to clear and some choice words to be exchanged.
Let's set the scene.
The Phillies and Rays were locked in a tight game. The score was tied going into the bottom of the eighth inning when with one out, Brandon Marsh walked and Kody Clemens followed with a double.
Sensing his team was in trouble, Rays manager Kevin Cash turned to his most reliable reliever to try and get out of the jam, so he called on Edwin Uceta.
Uceta entered the game with a 0.75 ERA and a miniscule WHIP of 0.694 with 50 strikeouts in just 36 innings.
But it wasn't going to be Uceta's night.
Pinch hitter Cal Stevenson ripped a double down the right field line to score two runs. Buddy Kennedy lined a single to right to score Stevenson. Trea Turner clubbed his second homer of the game, and suddenly it was 9-4. Bryce Harper roped an opposite field double.
Uceta's numbers were no longer going to look pretty.
So, into the box strode Nick Castellanos. And Uceta greeted him with a pitch on his hip. And the benches and bullpens emptied.
NICK CASTELLANOS IS DRILLED AND THE BENCHES HAVE EMPTIED IN PHILLY
BRYCE HARPER WANTS TO KILL SOMEONE
EMOTIONS ARE AT A BOILING POINT
CHAOS 🤯 pic.twitter.com/HCPiO9kYFE
Uceta claimed afterward it was unintentional. He also said it was a changeup. StatCast said otherwise, registering it as a 96.2 MPH sinker.
Three different guys in the Phillies locker room used one word to counter Uceta's assertion.
"Bullshit," said Castellanos, Harper and Kyle Schwarber, all in various ways to describe what had just taken place.
Let's start with Castellanos. After all, he was the guy hit by the pitch.
"Yeah, When I got into the box I wasn't even swinging because I thought there was a chance that that could happen - and it happened," Castellanos said. "I think that he was just pissed off that his numbers got messed up."
Fair enough. But Castellanos took it further - as only he can.
"I know that he had pretty good numbers going into that (inning). And just watching him, I could see him getting frustrated. As I was digging in I'm like, 'I'm gonna take this pitch right here to see if he's around the plate.' And it wasn't anywhere near the plate. I think that we all kind of got a sense of what it was that he was just pissed off, that, you know, he got hit around, and his ERA shot through the roof.
"I just told him that was bullshit. I mean, you're throwing a baseball over 90 miles an hour, and you're frustrated. And you're going to throw at somebody? You know, that's like my two-year-old throwing a fit because I take away his dessert before he's finished. Otto is only allowed so much cake and ice cream."
Nick Castellanos: “That’s like my two-year-old throwing a fit because I take away his desert before he’s finished.” @OnPattison @PhilliesNation https://t.co/XVExJku2Kl pic.twitter.com/Mc5alrLMTp
What a beaut.
But for all the verbal jabs from Castellanos, it was Harper who was even more fired up. Both on the field and afterward.
This might be the best Bryce Harper clip ever.
Video: @paul_boye
pic.twitter.com/lutFDInMDg
"I mean, he hit him on purpose," Harper said. "I mean, it's not the game that we play, man, it shouldn't be. I mean, guys throw too hard nowadays. You're getting mad because a guy you know hits a homer off you and you blow the (game)? Walk the guy and come out of the game. The whole thing just really fired me up, really upset me. It's just not something that you should accept in Major League Baseball."
Harper had some things to say to Uceta as he marched toward the mound from second base, but he never physically engaged him - but would have if the circumstances were right.
"He didn't turn around and I didn't want to be a loser and come up behind him," Harper said. "I just, you know, if he's going to turn around, then, all right, let's go. But he never turned around. So, I didn't want to.... I'll keep saying 'loser.' I didn't want to be a loser. There's another word I want to use, but I won't. But I don't want to be a loser and come up behind him, It wouldn't have been right. If he was facing me then all right."
Bryce Harper: “It’s not something we should accept as Major League Baseball.” @OnPattison @PhilliesNation https://t.co/nG2cJu872x pic.twitter.com/UeWqXpgqFf
Schwarber was in the training room getting treatment after leaving the game with a hyperextended elbow, but he, too, didn't think it was right.
"That just shouldn't be in the game," Schwarber said. "To take your frustrations out on a hitter because, in my opinion, you're getting hit - that's bullshit. It's just not right."
Schwarber said he thought for a minute about leaving the training room to run out on to the field. Both Ranger Suarez and Matt Strahm, who were already out of the game came running onto the field from the Clubhouse in shorts. But Schwarber smartly stayed back.
Kyle Schwarber: “To take your frustrations out on a hitter just because, in my opinion, you’re getting hit, that’s bullshit.” @OnPattison @PhilliesNation https://t.co/XVExJktuUN pic.twitter.com/GddwOVEDQj
Uceta was ejected from the game, so the umpires thought there was clear intent as well. And the incident ruined what would have been a cool story about Stevenson and Kennedy coming up with the big hits in the inning. Alas the Phillies showed their togetherness and reduced their magic number to 10 to clinch the N.L. East.
