The bad blood between the Texas Rangers and Toronto Blue Jays led to some rather ugly scenes on Sunday afternoon.
It all started in the top of the 8th inning, when Jose Bautista was hit by a Matt Bush fastball on the very first pitch he saw. On an ensuing ground ball, Bautista seemed to respond by going in with a late slide on Rangers second baseman Rougned Odor. Odor’s response to that was to turn, shove Bautista, and then drill him in the face with a right hook.
It’s so rare in baseball fights to get anyone throwing punches. It’s even rarer to see the punches make contact. Expect to see this one in baseball fight reels for years to come.
Jays pitcher Marcus Stroman, who is away from the team to attend his graduation from Duke University, was quick to chime in with his less than charitable opinion of Odor.
Zero respect for Odor. Never had respect for him, never will.
— Marcus Stroman (@MStrooo6) May 15, 2016
Of course, the Rangers and Jays – Bautista in particular – have a lot of recent history, with two separate bench-clearing incidents in Game Five of last year’s playoffs. You can bet that it played a role in these events. You can bet that Odor will face a lengthy suspension for that punch.
