Benches Clear Late in Game 5 of ALCS Between Texas Rangers, Houston Astros
Texas Rangers slugger Adolis García took his sweet time coming out of the batter's box following his go-ahead home run Friday, and the moment may have caused some problems later on in Game 5 of the ALCS.
With no outs and one man on in the bottom of the eighth inning, Houston Astros reliever Bryan Abreu plunked García in the arm with a fastball. An angered García started to tussle with catcher Martin Maldonado, and both benches and bullpens rushed the field.
Everyone was eventually separated, and after some deliberation by the umpires, García, Abreu and manager Dusty Baker were all ejected. It took some extra convincing from the umpires to get Baker to leave, but play finally resumed after an 11-minute delay once the skipper made his way back to the clubhouse.
The Rangers were up 4-2 at the time, courtesy of García's home run. The FOX broadcast crew was split on whether or not Abreu intentionally hit García, since it would have been an ill-advised move to put an extra man aboard when runs were at a premium late in a tight playoff game.
Field reporter Tom Verducci said the umpires told Baker that they determined it was intentional, however, and that the decision would stand regardless of game situation. Baker disagreed, and his argument boiled over into his own ejection.
Back in July, starting pitcher Framber Valdez hit second baseman Marcus Semien with a pitch, igniting another benches-clearing incident.
The two AL West clubs and in-state rivals entered Friday tied 2-2 in the ALCS. The Astros, who won the division via the head-to-head tiebreaker, re-took the lead in the top of the ninth via a three-run shot by José Altuve.
Houston won the game 5-4 and will now home for Game 6 with a chance to close out the series and return to the Fall Classic.
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