Nick Castellanos scored, stood up, waved his arms and shouted something in the face of pitcher Jake Woodford, sparking a series of altercations on Saturday when the Cincinnati Reds defeated the San Cardinals 9-6.
The near misses involve a series of shoves between relievers in the outfield.
St. Louis’s Breath Wainwright gave up six runs and was relieved in the third inning. Then came the frictions starring counselor Jake Woodford.
In the opening game, Castellanos homered and got out of the batter’s box, before throwing the bat in a showing that would have upset the Reds.
Woodford hit him with a pitch in the fourth inning, when there were two outs and the bases were empty. Castellanos picked up the ball and offered to throw it back to the pitcher, before throwing it to the side of the field.
Then, a wild pitch enabled Castellanos to run from third base and slide in a header to score the run that gave Cincinnati a 7-2 lead. On the play, Castellanos collided with Woodford, who had run home to make the out by catching a shot from Puerto Rican catcher Yadier Molina.
When Castellanos got up, he bit something in the face of the pitcher. Molina arrived to pick him up, which led to the emptying of the banks and bullpens.
There was more push before order was temporarily restored. But when the pitchers of the two teams returned to the bullpen, they faced each other in the outfield.
Castellanos was the only player to be sent off. Aristides Aquino replaced him and led off the sixth inning with a homerun.
Tyler Mahle (1-0) took the win. Wainwright (0-1) was the defeat.
For the Cardinals, Puerto Rican Molina 3-1.
For the Reds, Aquino was 2-1 with a run scored and an RBI. The Venezuelan Eugenio Suárez 4-1 with one scored and one produced. The Cuban Cionel Pérez 1-0.