The beanball brawls have started -- and it's only spring training.
Dominica's Vladimir Guerrero was ejected in the first inning on Monday for starting a bench-clearing fight during the Montreal Expos' 7-4 win over the Florida Marlins.
Brad Penny's second pitch to Guerrero grazed the Montreal slugger's uniform. Still holding his bat in his left hand, Guerrero said a few words to Penny as catcher Matt Treanor tried to restrain the batter.
PHOTO: AP
After Penny got closer, Guerrero swung his right fist around the catcher at the pitcher, missing. Penny retaliated with punch that missed, and the dugouts emptied.
``I'm not trying to hit a guy in spring training, especially not in the first inning,'' Penny said. ``I'm out trying to throw inside. The first pitch he didn't like, and he stared me down. Then, I barely touched his shirt. He came out. If I wanted to hit him, I would have thrown a two-seam fastball.''
The Mariners and Diamondbacks got into a bench-clearing shoving match in Tucson, Arizona, after All-Stars Bret Boone and Luis Gonzalez were hit by pitches.
Arizona right-hander Miguel Batista hit Boone in the left arm with a pitch in the top of the sixth inning. In the bottom half, Jeff Nelson hit Gonzalez in the back with the first pitch.
Both dugouts and bullpens emptied, but no punches were thrown. Boone and Gonzalez came out for pinch-runners, but neither was injured.
``It's just a spring training game,'' Gonzalez said. ``By no means are we trying to hit Boonie. He's one of their stars, one of the marquee guys on the team. All of us in here are big fans of his. He plays in the other league. I just thought it was stupid what he [Nelson] did.''
Oddly, the flare-up came between teams whose managers are good friends. First-year Seattle skipper Bob Melvin was Arizona manager Bob Brenly's bench coach the past two seasons.
Mariners reliever Arthur Rhodes was ejected, even though he never played. Melvin said Rhodes, scheduled to pitch later in the game, was thrown out because of remarks an umpire said he made as he walked back to the bullpen.
The game ended in a 6-6 tie after 10 innings by mutual agreement. Willie Bloomquist's two-run homer in the ninth for Seattle sent the game into extra innings.
Braves 9, Cardinals 1
At Jupiter, Florida, Rick Ankiel pitched another perfect inning for St. Louis. The 23-year-old left-hander, trying to rebound from wildness and an arm injury, struck out two and threw 15 pitches.
Blue Jays 4, Twins 0
At Fort Myers, Florida, Eric Hinske hit a three-run homer, and Roy Halladay threw four sharp innings as four Toronto pitchers combined on a one-hitter.
Astros 5, Phillies 3
At Kissimmee, Florida, Lance Berkman hit a three-run homer and Richard Hidalgo added a solo shot for Houston.
Astros second baseman Jeff Kent was hit in the helmet by a pitch from Phillies starter Kevin Millwood and left the game as a precaution.
Indians 11, Yankees 1
At Winter Haven, Florida, Karim Garcia, A.J. Hinch and Omar Vizquel homered in a seven-run fourth inning for Cleveland.
Yu Yao-hsing on Tuesday nabbed Taiwan’s only goal in the final round of qualifiers for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, as they fell 3-1 to Sri Lanka at Taipei Municipal Stadium. Early goals from Sri Lanka in the first half left Taiwan struggling to get on the board, and Christopher Tiao’s own goal at 53 minutes sealed the team’s fate in the third round of qualifiers. While acknowledging that the defeat, Taiwan’s sixth in Group D, was disappointing, head coach Matt Ross said he saw reasons to stay positive about the team’s development. “There were lots of positive signs in terms of the
Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli yesterday vowed to “keep raising the bar” after winning the Japanese Grand Prix to become the youngest driver in Formula One history to lead the championship standings. The 19-year-old Italian took advantage of a mid-race safety car to jump into the lead after a dreadful start from pole position, crossing the line ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Antonelli’s Suzuka victory came two weeks after the first grand prix win of his career in China, and sent him top of the championship standings after three races, nine points ahead of team-mate George Russell. Mercedes are struggling to
INDIGESTION: Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup for a third consecutive time after a 4-1 defeat to Bosnia on penalties in a loss Gattuso said was ‘difficult to digest’ Coach Graham Arnold on Tuesday challenged his players to “shock the world” after Iraq became the 48th and final team to qualify for the FIFA World Cup with a nerve-shredding 2-1 win over Bolivia in an intercontinental playoff in Mexico, as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Sweden and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) also secured their places at the finals. Iraq, whose preparations were disrupted by the war in the Middle East, sealed their first appearance at the finals in 40 years and are to play in Group I against France, Senegal and Norway. Goals from Ali al-Hamadi
Teng Kai-wei, the only Taiwanese player on an opening-day roster in this year’s Major League Baseball (MLB) season, took his first win of the year with the Houston Astros in his season debut. Teng entered in relief in the top of the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday, with the Astros trailing 5-0. He pitched 2-1/3 scoreless innings with two strikeouts, as Houston scored 11 runs during his outing to snatch an 11-9 comeback victory. The win is the Astros’ first of the season and the third of Teng’s MLB career. “It’s my first time pitching for the Astros, so
RSS