Ryan Braun again haunted the Pirates with a game tying solo homer against Jason Grilli in the ninth and Khris Davis finished things off with a solo shot of his own in the 14th to cap a 4-3 Brewers victory over the Pirates on Sunday afternoon.
Things got heated in the third after Carlos Gomez appeared to have hit a home run to center. The Brewers center fielder gazed at the ball for a moment and tossed his bat. Only thing was, the ball didn’t leave the yard and he had to settle for a triple. A confrontation between Gomez and Cole ensued at third before both benches and bullpens cleared onto the field.
Gomez and Travis Snider would exchange pleasantries while Russell Martin had to be subdued to the Pirates dugout by Gaby Sanchez. After all was said and done Gomez and Snider were ejected along with Brewers bench coach, Jerry Narron. Martin Maldonado appeared to get a punch in as well while Snider was facing the other way, but he wasn’t ejected. Snider received a cut under his eye due to the punch hitting his glasses.
“We don’t live in a perfect world,” said manager Clint Hurdle. “We play with intensity, we represent, we do what we feel led to do within the boundaries of sport and competition. Unfortunately, some times in sport men get involved in more than just competing on the field. That’s pretty much what happened today and our guys wanted to make sure Cole was covered and protected and that’s kinda how we work as a club.”
Gomez explained the confrontation with Cole wasn’t enough to charge the mound, but the clearing of the Pirates bench caused it to blow up.
“The way I flipped the bat was the way I flip the bat all the time. The thing is, I didn’t flip the bat because it was a home run. I flipped the bat because I though it was going to be a hard out .Snider is the one who started it… The game could have continued normal. But some guy, some idiot, come out and did stupid stuff .”
Russell Martin had another view on what happened, especially with Maldonado’s action on Travis Snider.
“The fair thing would be for our team to hold down Maldonado so Travis [Snider] can go back and sucker punch him in the face. It’s like a band of brothers out there. You are going to protect your own guy, but there are certain rules of combat that apply.”
Major League Baseball will review the brawl and could suspend or fine anyone involved in the upcoming days.
The scuffle seemed to amp up Cole as he cruised through the next 4 1/3 innings before allowing his only run of the game in the eighth to Mark Reynolds, a solo home run. It would tie the game at one after the Pirates got a solo home run in the fourth by Neil Walker that cleared the seats in right.
“My fastball location was good,” said Cole. “Chris and I were on the same page. I was just trying to put the ball on the ground, moving it inside and outside. There really wasn’t anything special to it. I just executed a handful of pitches when we needed them, so we could get a couple of double plays.”
The Pirates regained the lead in the bottom of the eighth when Ike Davis singled, moved to third on a Walker single and scored on a Jose Tabata RBI single.
Cole would be removed after 91 pitches for Jason Grilli in the ninth against the same part of the order he faced when he blew his save last night. The results were almost identical as Grilli retired Jean Segura before allowing another home run to Ryan Braun, this time a solo shot, to tie the game again at two.
The Brewers would take the lead for the first time in the fourteenth inning when Khris Davis led the inning off with a solo shot into the left field bleachers.
Final Score: Brewers 3, Pirates 2
Starters Lines
Estrada (ND): 6 IN, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 K’s, 1 HR. 103 Pitches (63 Strikes).
Cole (ND): 8 IN, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K’s, 1 HR. 91 Pitches (64 Strikes).
The Pirates will begin the second half of their homestand tomorrow evening when they start a 4-game series against the Reds at 7:05. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN.
Tomorrow’s Starters
(LHP) Francisco Liriano (PIT): 0-3, 3.96 ERA
(RHP) Mike Leake (CIN): 2-1, 2.95 ERA
(Photo Credit: AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
