Astros Reliever Apologizes After Incident With Mariners' Rodriguez

The Houston Astros and Seattle Mariners were in the spotlight once again after a bench clearing incident was created during their tense series. The Astros reliever has apologized for what took place.

Going into the series between the Houston Astros and Seattle Mariners, there were expectations that things could get tense with both teams fighting for their playoff lives.

The Astros were barely leading the Mariners in the standings and need to beat their division rivals if they wanted to hold their spot in the playoffs.

Beating them is something that Houston had done only once this season prior to that series.

The third game stole national headlines after Astros reliever Hector Neris charged at Seattle's superstar Julio Rodriguez after striking him out in a big moment.

That prompted benches to clear, which was the fourth time that's happened between these clubs this season.

Neris apologized for his actions in statement that was released during Houston's off-day as they get ready for their final series of the year against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

"First I want to apologize to Julio, his family, and the Mariners organization. I have a tremendous amount of respect for Julio as a person and a player. He means so much to baseball and the communities in the United States and back home in the Dominican Republic. He is a great player and a better person and deserves to be recognized that way," his statement started.

The right handed reliever and Rodriguez have been friends dating back to 2020 during the COVID pandemic. They share the same agent and were teammates of the Dominican Republic team during the 2023 World Baseball Classic.

That friendship could be over after the incident.

According to Rodriguez, he was reached out to by Neris but has no intention of responding.

The superstar said, "I feel like you've always got to keep it respectful. And as somebody that I had a lot of respect for and that I've known for quite a long time dating back to 2020 during the pandemic, I just feel I deserve a little bit more respect."

Reports circulated that Neris used a homophobic slur against Rodriguez during his tirade.

Neris denies saying anything along those lines and Rodriguez said no comment.

MLB will look into the accusations and begin an investigation to do their due diligence.

Dusty Baker said there's "bad blood" between these two teams and it looks like Rodriguez isn't letting this one go despite the apology from Neris.