Rangers, Astros benches clear after Garcia is hit by pitch. Players, manager ejected
What happened when the benches cleared in the Texas Rangers’ 5-4 loss to the Houston Astros in Game 5 of the ALCS on Friday?
Astros manager Dusty Baker, Rangers manager Bruce Bochy and player Adolis Garcia were all upset after the game for different reasons.
The confrontation started when Astros pitcher Bryan Abreu hit Garcia with a pitch on his shoulder in the eighth inning.
Garcia took exception and started to argue with Astros catcher Martin Maldonado. After a tense back and forth, the benches cleared with some light shoving between the teams.
“I just reacted to the ball that came towards me. It was something in that situation, he could have hurt me,” said Garcia, “I just let him know that shouldn’t happen there.”
Garcia, Abreu and Baker were all ejected from the game.
The hit-by-pitch came after Garcia had hit a massive three-run homer in the previous at-bat in the sixth inning to turn a 2-1 Rangers deficit to a 4-2 Rangers lead.
Astros pitcher Justin Verlander said the team didn’t take exception to Garcia’s celebration after his sixth-inning home run.
“I don’t think anybody is mad about him pimping a homer, it was the biggest homer in his career, quite honestly. I don’t think anybody on that team did quite honestly. Obviously, he thought something might happen ... though because it was a pretty quick reaction,” said Verlander.
Baker thought there was no way Abreu would hit Garcia on purpose given the circumstances. His team was behind by two runs in the eighth inning of a critical playoff game.
“It didn’t make any sense to me. We got a two-run game,” said Baker. “Anytime you’re throwing a projectile 97 miles an hour, some of them are going to get away. I don’t care if you’re big league, Hall of Fame, I don’t care who you are.”
Umpire crew chief James Hoye disagreed with Baker.
“To a T, all of us felt like that pitch was intentional,” said Hoye, “Obviously, by Dusty’s reaction, he didn’t feel like we should have ejected him [Abreu]. There was some back-and-forth between Dusty and us, and Dusty threw his hat.”
After the game, Astros catcher Martin Maldonado said the fracas woke the Astros up. When asked if that was a turning point Baker said he couldn’t say because of how emotional he was.
“I wasn’t seeing nothing. I was just seeing red, you know, And I couldn’t even see straight because that was just ... I mean, I hope it did, you know,” said Baker.
Baker was angry cause he didn’t get how Abreu was thrown out.
“Nobody likes to get hit. But you’re not going to add runs on in the ninth inning in the playoffs when we’re trying to win a game,” said Baker, “How do you prove intent? That’s what I don’t I don’t understand.
Rangers manager Bruce Bochy pointed at the timing of the hit by pitch saying he understood Garcia’s reaction but couldn’t say if it was intentional and was also upset with the umpires.
“Who Knows? The guy hits a three-run home; the next time up he gets smoked there,” said Bochy, “I’d be upset, too, if I was [Adolis Garcia],” said Bochy, “It just took to long to get things back in order that’s what was frustrating me.”
This is the second time Maldonado has been at the center of a benches-clearing moment with the Rangers after he argued with Marcus Semien earlier in the season in July.
After the game, Garcia said he had no ill will towards Maldonado.
“It was just the heat of the moment. I was reacting to being hit by the pitch. I just reacted towards him as soon as I felt the hit,” said Garcia, “I don’t have anything personal with anyone. My thing is just to go out there and play baseball.”
Following the loss, Garcia said the Rangers now had to respond.
“There’s another game that we have to turn towards, focus on,” said Garcia, “I’m going to keep letting guys know, we still have a shot at this. We’re going to keep grinding and were going to try and find a way to win.”
This story was originally published October 20, 2023 at 7:02 PM.
