Tensions boiled over in Chicago as a rookie's towering home run sparked a bench-clearing brawl, leading to a dramatic ejection and a narrow one-run victory over Chicago.
When you hit a long home run, it helps your team on the scoreboard. It also means you might get pitched around in your next at-bat, especially if you’re a talented offensive player like Cincinnati Reds infielder Sal Stewart.
Chicago White Sox starter Davis Martin hung a slider right on the inner half of the plate to Stewart, who, as expected, deposited a no-doubter into the left-field seats for a solo home run in the first inning of the game. He definitely took a little extra time to stare as the ball left the yard. It was Stewart’s 26th home run and 89th RBI of the season, which is giving him a serious chance at the NL Rookie of the Year trophy.
In his next at-bat, Davis Martin threw a fastball over Sal Stewart’s head, yielding a reaction from Stewart. He looked at Martin with a curious stare and gave him a thumbs-up, as the two had seemingly come to the conclusion that the errant pitch was an accident. However, on the next pitch, Martin threw a fastball directly at Stewart’s head, which hit him on the visor of the helmet. Stewart yelled expletives at Martin as both dugouts and bullpens cleared.
It’s very hard to imagine Martin throwing two accidental pitches at or around Stewart’s head after hitting a long home run off of him. Apparently the umpires agreed, as Martin was very swiftly ejected from the game.
The Reds ultimately won 9-8 in an up-and-down offensive affair. In that same inning that Stewart hit his home run, Martin hit Tyler Stephenson with an off-speed pitch and yielded another home run on a hanging off-speed pitch to Eugenio Suarez. Andrew Abbott got the start for Cincinnati and gave up a run on a one-run double.
Chicago took the lead 4-3 in the second inning off the back of a Randal Grichuk double that scored two runs.
Eugenio Suarez hit a deep sac fly to score Sal Stewart after the bench-clearing debacle. In the fourth inning, after a Ke’Bryan Hayes single and an Elly De La Cruz walk, Stewart singled home Hayes to take the lead 5-4. Tyler Stephenson hit a three-run home run on his next at-bat, blowing the game open 8-4.
Abbott left the game in the fifth after allowing five earned runs.
The Reds added another run after Eugenio Suarez was hit by a pitch. Andrew Benintendi then singled home two to make it a 9-7 game. Edgar Quero singled with two outs in the ninth to bring the White Sox within a run, before Elly De La Cruz made a great play up the middle to end the game by throwing out Sam Antonacci at first with the tying run on base.
