Things got wild on Tuesday night during the Brewers-Rays game in Milwaukee when two players started throwing punches, resulting in four suspensions over the brawl.
It happened at American Family Field in the eighth inning when Jose Siri — for the Tampa Bay Rays — grounded out against Brewers pitcher Abner Uribe, leading to words being exchanged between the players, the Associated Press reported.
In the clip on social media, the umpire then got in between the two players attempting to cool things off, before Uribe took a giant swing at Siri —followed by the Rays player hitting right back.
In just a matter of seconds, the Brewers and Rays dugouts and bullpens completely emptied out, with multiple players now involved in the huge brawl.
Brewers first baseman Rhys Hoskins could be seen trying to break things up before he got pushed to the ground.
“I don’t know who said something first but I saw them talking to each other somewhat discreetly and then off it went,” Hoskins told the AP.
Things got very heated between the Tampa Bay Rays and Milwaukee Brewers! 😲#BBCBaseball #MLB pic.twitter.com/1RF8Vg7cuJ
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) May 1, 2024
Speaking to the press Siri said — through an interpreter — “He [Uribe] was the one who threw first. I don’t think I did anything bad,” ESPN reported.
“When I was in the on-deck circle and he was warming up I felt like he kept looking over at me and staring at me, so I just had that feeling,” he added. “Obviously, when I went to first base, I confirmed that he had a problem with me.”
Before the brawl, things had started to get tense between the two teams after Brewers starting pitcher Freddy Peralta appeared to intentionally throw a ball at Siri, hitting him with a 3-0 fastball, leading to ejections for Peralta and Brewers manager Pat Murphy, the AP noted.
The move resulted in Peralta being taken off the pitcher’s mound and replaced by Uribe.
On Wednesday, the MLB announced varied suspensions for the three Milwaukee players and Siri, with all four being fined, the outlet noted.
Uribe got a six-game suspension for the brawl with Siri, while Peralta was suspended for five games for allegedly intentionally throwing at Siri in the sixth inning, something he has denied.
“There was no reason for me to hit him,” Peralta said. “My pitch count was really low and my goal tonight was to go deep into the game and give our bullpen a breather because they’ve been working a lot, so there was no reason to hit him.”
The Rays player initially received a three-game suspension that was reduced to two, and Murphy will also be forced to sit out for two games as a result of Peralta’s actions.