Tempers flaired in Detroit as the Tigers and Chicago White Sox met for a Thursday afternoon game in Comerica Park. With nobody on and two outs in the top of the sixth, Alexei Ramirez took a pitch that went behind him as Tigers' reliever Luke Putkonen appeared to intentional throw at the shortstop. Ramirez immediately took offense and walked to the mound to have a heated conversation with the Tigers' righty.
No punches were thrown, but both benches cleared as they stepped up to defend each other's teammates. Tigers' catcher Brayan Peña, who weighs 230 pounds compared to Ramirez's 180 pound frame, had no trouble containing the White Sox's shortstop. Putkonen walked up to Ramirez, but by the time he was anywhere near him, Prince Fielder, Miguel Cabrera and home plate umpire, Chad Fairchild, had already stepped in the middle and were working on calming Ramirez down.
What's the Beef?
Apparently, Fielder was, unknowingly, the cause of the whole incident. In the bottom of the fifth, after Cabrera hit his 30th home run, Chris Sale sent a fastball underneath Fielder's chin. For the Tigers' manager Jim Leyland, this was a no-no. You can't throw at a $200 million guy and expect to walk out without receiving a threat.
Umpires assumed Leyland played a hand in the attempted Ramirez beaming. Rothchild met with Leyland as both teams were on the field and proceeded to throw Leyland out of the game. Leyland could not believe he did not receive a warning and was infuriated.
The White Sox are currently in the eighth inning leading 6-3. This is just another game for them, but the Tigers are trying to win as many games as possible since the Cleveland Indians are now just three games back after winning, 4-2, in their meeting against the Toronto Blue Jays.
Click here to watch the benches clear at the White Sox and Tigers game.
