Athletics' Ramón Laureano: 'I wasted my time on' Astros' coach Alex Cintron in Sunday brawl
While he awaits potential discipline from Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred for his part in Sunday’s brawl with the Astros, A’s center fielder Ramón Laureano says he regrets charging Houston's bench.
Laureano, who had been hit by pitched three times in the three-game series, left field base and charged hitting coach Alex Cintron, pulling down his mandated protective mask. Cintron backed off, but most the Astros did not. Dustin Garneau, who caught the game Saturday — in which no A’s player got hit — got Laureano in a hug, which may have prevented Laureano from getting hurt.
“I regret charging that guy (Cintron),” Laureano said to the A’s media Monday afternoon ahead of the three-game series opener against the Angels. “I’m a man, I’m a freaking man. Whatever happens, happens. I’ll take it. I couldn’t keep my cool and I should have.
“And I wasted my time with that guy.”
Earlier, in a conversation with ESPN, Laureano said that Cintron made a vile comment about Laureano’s mother. Being hit by a pitch three times Laureano could shake off. But not that.
Laureano told ESPN that Cintron “said in Spanish something you don’t say about my mother.”
The result is expected to be a lengthy suspension for Laureano. There may or may not be a short suspension for A’s catcher Austin Allen, who tackled Astros catcher Martín Maldonado — the man who called all three pitches that hit Laureano and the two that hit A’s outfielder Robbie Grossman in Friday’s game.
Cintron is expected to be suspended as well, although as of late Monday afternoon, there was no word out of the commissioner’s office as numerous videos of the incident were being broken down. A’s manager Bob Melvin said he’d given his version of events to Chris Young in the MLB offices in New York. And while he expects discipline against Laureano, he doesn’t see it coming for Allen.
Melvin added that if Laureano is disciplined, then Cintron must be as well. He applauded the way Laureano stood up and said he was wrong.
“Ramon is remorseful about what he did,” the manager said. “There were a lot of reasons for what he did, but he’s remorseful for it. In my opinion, it was instigated from the other side.”
While Laureano said he didn’t keep his cool “should have,” he said he appreciated the way Allen and the rest of the A’s rallied to his defense. He also thanked Garneau for tackling him without hurting him.
“It meant a lot to me; that’s how close we are as a group,” Laureano said. “Not only the players, but the coaching staff and everybody. I felt the support and people reaching out to me was pretty cool.”
Before the fracas was over, backup second baseman Franklin Barreto emerged from the pile with Maldonado’s catching mask. Melvin was puzzled just how that came about.
“I was searching for that as well,” the manager said. “Maldonado had a mask on, and then he didn’t. It was almost like a magic act. I mean I didn’t see it come off and they next thing you know, Barreto’s got it.”
Laureano had taken first base in the seventh inning after being hit by a pitch for the second consecutive played trip and the third time in the series.
After taking the base, however, he responded to verbal jousting from Cintron and charged the Houston dugout. The A’s, unwilling to have their center fielder go it alone, charged en masse from the home dugout for just the kind of collapse of social distancing that MLB and the players’ union had agreed should be strictly forbidden in the age of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
That health and safety concerns weren’t lost on Laureano.
“These are very had times when it comes to social distancing and during the pandemic,” he said. “Obviously I look like not a very smart guy. But when you’ve very emotional, especially when it’s about your mother, it’s always tough.”
Sunday was not the first time the Astros have been involved a brawl this season. Dodgers pitcher Joe Kelly was slapped with an unheard-of to that point eight-game suspension as part of a fracas with the Astros last month. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was also suspended one game. Kelly has continued to pitch, however, while the hearing of his appeal has been delayed.
Since the eight-game suspension came from Smith throwing behind hitters and not at them, it’s not clear how that balances with the Sunday incident in Oakland. Will the Astros’ pitchers get suspended? Will Maldonado?
For his part, Laureano said he didn’t think Houston pitchers were throwing at him, saying they were mostly young and inexperienced and may not have great control.
Maldonado, is no stranger to suspensions. In April of 2014 he was hit with a five-game suspension and $2,500 fine when, while playing for Milwaukee, he came off the Brewers bench as part of a brawl and punched the Pirates’ Travis Snider, leaving the Pirates’ outfielder with a black eye.
With the A’s, who have finished runner-up to the Astros the last two seasons in the AL West, leading the division thanks to a nine-game winning streak heading into Monday’s series opener in Anaheim against the Angels, the Astros have been pushed into third place in the AL West, 5½ games off the A’s pace.
Laureano has batted second in the lineup in each of the A’s first 16 games, putting together a .278/.406/.519 slash line that includes three homers, 10 RBI, 10 runs scored and eight walks.
Starter Frankie Montas said Laureano “knows how much he means to this team, so he feels pretty bad (about a possible suspension).”
“Honestly, he’s one of the guys that we need. To lose him is going to be tough,” Montas said. “For (Laureano to charge the dugout), somebody’s got to say something (bad),” Montas said. “From a player’s side, you don’t want a coach to try to provoke you. For (Cintron) to do that, I don’t know.
“I feel like if they decide to discipline, it should be both sides. It doesn’t take just one guy to start a fight.“
For Sunday starter Jesús Luzardo, the Astros’ instigation of the brawl and the five hit batters spell out how things must be in the Astros clubhouse.
“Clearly the frustration is building up on that side,” Luzardo said Sunday of the altercation, “so they just let it out.”
Follow Athletics insider John Hickey on Twitter: @JHickey3
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