Nick Castellanos scored, stood up, waved his arms and slammed something in the face at pitcher Jake Woodford, which set off a series of altercations Saturday in the game the Cincinnati Reds won. 9-6 to the Cardinals of St. Louis.
Among the quarrels of fighting was a series of pushes among the reliefists in the gardens.
A m Wainwright, of St. Louis, admitted six runs and was relieved in the third inning. Then came the frictions starring reliever Jake Woodford.
In the opening game, Castellanos fired a homer and came out of the batting box, before throwing the bat in an ostentation that would have upset the Reds.
Woodford gave him a ball in the fourth inning, when there were two outs and the bases were empty. Castellanos picked up the ball and offered to throw it back to the pitcher, before throwing it to one side of the field.
Then, an uncontrolled throw allowed Castellanos to run from the anteroom and slide his head to score the run that put Cincinnati up 7-2. In the play, Castellanos collided with Woodford, who had gone to man in search of making the out, catching a shot from Puerto Rican catcher Yadier Molina.
When Castellanos joined he said something to the pitcher’s face. Molina came to claim it, which resulted in the banks and bullpens being emptied.
There were more pushes before order was momentarily restored. But when the pitchers from both teams returned to the bullpen, they faced off in the gardens.
Castellanos was the only player expelled. Dominican Aristides Aquino replaced him and opened the sixth inning with a homer.
Tyler Mahle (1-0) took the win. Wainwright (0-1) was the loser.
For the Cardinals, the Boricua Molina 3-1.
For the Reds, the Dominican Aquino 2-1 with a score and a push. The Venezuelan Eugenio Suárez of 4-1 with one annotated and one produced. The Cuban Cionel Pérez of 1-0.