Miami Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez hit Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder David Peralta in the head with a fastball on Wednesday night. There’s no reason to believe Fernandez did it on purpose.
However, the D-Backs apparently felt there was intent. Peralta, who eventually walked off under his own power, laid on the ground for a while receiving medical attention. While that was going on, D-Backs hitting coach Turner Ward was ejected for bickering at home plate umpire Vic Carapazza.
The next inning, Arizona pitcher Dominic Leone hit Marlins outfielder Christian Yelich in the backside with a pitch. It was clearly intentional, and Leone was immediately ejected.
Fernandez, who was visibly shaken up after hitting Peralta, expressed concern for Peralta after the game.
“I’m sad, sad because I know the kid personally,” Fernandez said, per Lia P. Kamana of The Arizona Republic. “And you never want to hit anybody and you never want to hit anybody in the head, that’s the last thing you want to do as a pitcher. “It’s really scary, I got really scared because that’s not something nice to see.”
Unless there was something the cameras missed, the Diamondbacks were completely out of line. There’s no reason to believe that Hernandez would bean someone intentionally.
H/T Big League Stew
