Behind seven dominant innings from Clayton Kershaw and a trio of home runs, the Los Angeles Dodgers took a commanding 6-1 lead into the bottom of the eighth. However, what had been a laugher involved some controversy, thanks in no small part to Yunel Escobar.
Brandon Morrow replaced Luis Avilan, who allowed three consecutive hits and one run without recording an out in the eighth inning. Morrow struck out Albert Pujols but then hit Escobar with a pitch to load the bases and bring the tying run to the plate.
The Angels third baseman immediately turned to his dugout and seemingly yelled out of frustration. Escobar then turned his attention to Morrow and was stopped by Yasmani Grandal from potentially charging the mound.
The curious situation led to benches and bullpens clearing. The Dodgers went on for a 6-1 victory to earn a split in the Freeway Series, and were largely perplexed by Escobar’s actions.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts revealed it stemmed from interaction between Escobar and Kershaw following a walk in the sixth inning.
“From what I saw, he took a little exception to Escobar after that walk, I guess his body language,” Roberts said of Kershaw.
“Clayton is intense. Yunel probably didn’t mean any disrespect, but maybe Clayton took offense to it. After that situation we turned the page. We just wanted to win a game.”
To say Kershaw stared at Escobar in any unusual manner would be generous. It should be noted Escobar had words, not necessarily directed at Kershaw, as he stepped out of the batter’s box. Escobar refused to discuss the matter postgame.
"Read the room a little bit…" pic.twitter.com/CJ4FOfd1Mz
— Matthew Moreno (@MMoreno1015) June 30, 2017
“I get it, you’re mad about getting hit,” Kershaw said. “But read the room a little bit and realize we weren’t trying to hit you.” While Morrow was at the center of the benches-clearing incident, he had zero knowledge of any previous exchange.
“The umpire mentioned maybe a minor interaction between him and Kershaw earlier on a walk,” Morrow said. “From the bullpen, we can’t see that stuff. Obviously, it wouldn’t be a good situation to put somebody on base there.
Brandon Morrow discussed the hit by pitch heard 'round the world. pic.twitter.com/cug9YQ0It3
— Dodger Blue (@DodgerBlue1958) June 30, 2017
“He yelled something in his own dugout, and I couldn’t hear anything he was saying, but then he had something coming towards me. I was confused after I turned back around.”
Morrow also noted the pitch that hit Escobar — an elevated, inside fastball — was in a similar location as the pitch Pujols struck out swinging on.
Whereas Kershaw, Morrow and Roberts were all bemused by Escobar’s interpretation of the hit by pitch, Kenley Jansen was easily the most agitated.
“I think that’s stupid, man. I wish this could be over with,” Jansen said. “Nobody is going to fight. If you want to go one-on-one, just go one-on-one. You can meet somewhere else.”
“We’re trying to win a game. [Escobar’s] conscious might be working against him, we’re just trying to win games. Not hit anybody or do anything like that. I don’t think it’s right to hit anybody anyway.”
Jansen clarified his critical remarks extended beyond Thursday’s incident and applied to all dust-ups. “You’re going to charge so you can have a couple cheap shots? It’s a waste of time running all way the from the bullpen to just stand around,” he added.
“If you want to call Brandon out, I’m pretty sure he can defend himself outside one-on-one.”
