A close play at home plate sparked a benches-clearing shoving match between National League Central rivals on Saturday.
The tense incident culminated with the ejection of Reds slugger Nick Castellanos, after he had scored from third base on a wild pitch by St. Louis reliever Jake Woodford.
Castellanos made his furious dash for the plate when an errant fastball from Woodford sailed back to the screen, sending catcher Yadier Molina scrambling to gather the ball and make a play at the plate.
Molina, long hailed as one of the game's premier defensive backstops, delivered a strike to Woodford, but the pitcher's tag on a sliding Castellanos was deemed late by home-plate umpire Tony Randazzo.
Castellanos -- who reached base after he was hit by a Woodford pitch -- quickly bounced up after beating Woodford's tag and struck a pronounced "flex" pose while standing over the pitcher.
Woodford and Molina promptly took exception, with Molina charging hard toward Castellanos before he was intercepted by Randazzo.
Their reaction prompted the familiar cascade of players on both benches and dugouts rushing to break up the scrum, with several smaller shoving matches also breaking out.
The Reds and Cardinals have had their share of dust-ups and tense exchanges in recent years, mostly famously in a 2010 incident involving Molina and former Cincinnati star Brandon Philips.
Despite the seemingly hard feelings, Castellanos suggested after the game that he still had the utmost respect for Molina, a likely future Hall of Famer.
"That guy could punch me in the face and I'd still ask him for a signed jersey," Castellanos quipped.
Listen below for the call by Ricky Horton and John Rooney on KMOX in St. Louis: