The Texas Rangers and Houston Astros had a bench-clearing incident on Wednesday night following a grand slam by Adolis Garcia.
Garcia hit a grand slam with two outs in the top of the fifth inning in Houston to make it 13-3. He took his time coming around the bases and was confronted by Astros catcher Martin Maldonado upon reaching home. Players from both dugouts came out onto the field, though matters were defused pretty quickly.
Yep, the Rangers/Astros rivalry is alive and well.
Benches clear in Houston after Adolis Garcia's grand slam. pic.twitter.com/Rc1198qFm0
— FanDuel Sports Network Southwest (@FanDuelSN_SW) July 27, 2023
Both Maldonado and Rangers second baseman Marcus Semien were ejected.
There is some background explaining why Semien was tossed.
Semien had been hit by a pitch in the third inning. He homered in the following inning and stared down Astros players afterwards.
Then, Semien was on third base when Garcia hit the grand slam. Semien jumped onto home plate when he scored.
Rangers 2B Marcus Semien and Astros C Martín Maldonado have both been ejected.
Semien scored from third on a grand slam from Adolis García and got into an argument with Maldonado. Which caused the benches to clear. pic.twitter.com/AlO4ySHPOA
— The Comeback (@thecomeback) July 27, 2023
Texas Rangers reporter Evan Grant says the history between Maldonado and Garcia goes back to 2021.
Maldonado chirps a lot. The history with García stems from Maldonado saying something before an AB in Arlington, in 2021 I believe. Then García homered and had something to say back. https://t.co/ZYxyn70ybE
— Evan Grant (@Evan_P_Grant) July 27, 2023
Now that the Rangers are good again and leading the division, the rivalry between the teams has been revived.
