(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — An all-out brawl overshadowed the White Sox’s 7-4 win in Cleveland Saturday night.
It happened in the sixth inning, after Cleveland’s José Ramírez slid underneath Chicago shortstop Tim Anderson for what appeared to be a routine RBI double.
While Ramírez stood up, though, he pointed his finger at Anderson, and an argument between the two men escalated as they squared up like boxers. Anderson threw the first punches, but Ramírez landed the decisive blow as he knocked the Chicago star down with a right hook to his jaw.
The fight was perhaps summed up best by Associated Press writer Brian Dulik, who wrote: “Tim Anderson dropped his glove. José Ramírez dropped Chicago’s shortstop.”
The free-for-all led to six ejections. Among them were Anderson and White Sox manager Pedro Grifol, after the latter got into it with Cleveland’s third-base coach Mike Sarbaugh.
Anderson’s teammates were able to get him into the dugout, but he eventually came back out as chaos continued on the diamond. First baseman Andrew Vaughn had to physically pick up and carry Anderson down the dugout steps.
It took 15 minutes before order was restored to the game. It’s not exactly clear why the play at second snowballed into the bench-clearing fight.
On Friday night, Anderson pushed Guardians rookie Brayan Rocchio off the bag at second base following a slide, which led to a call that was controversially reversed by the umpires. Cleveland manager Terry Francona said Anderson had been warned by one of the umpires to stop trash talking one of Cleveland’s players during Saturday’s matchup.
Afterward, Ramírez accused Anderson of “disrespecting the game.”
Anderson was not available for comment.
On Sunday, Anderson was not in the White Sox lineup. Ramírez, though, made the start for Cleveland.
Major League Baseball is still weighing likely discipline following the fight.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
Related
Related
Listen to our new podcast Looped In: Chicago
Listen to WBBM Newsradio now on Audacy!
Sign up and follow WBBM Newsradio
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram