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Bizarre Astros-Twins bench-clearing incident leaves Minnesota manager Rocco Baldelli FUMING after he came to the mound to calm down his pitcher… only to be told that he’d now have to pull the starter from the game (and he was then kicked out too!)
- Jose Altuve was hit by an Aaron Sanchez pitch and the two exchanged words
- Twins manager Rocco Baldelli then entered the field and tried to calm Sanchez
- But the act was crucially deemed a mound visit, before another minutes later
- The Twins were forced to remove Sanchez from the game due to an MLB rule
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A bizarre series of events in a game between the Astros and Twins Tuesday night led to Minnesota pitcher Aaron Sanchez being forced to leave the game and manager Rocco Baldelli ejected from the contest after a bench-clearing incident.
The drama began in the fifth inning when Sanchez hit the Astros’ Jose Altuve in the thigh with a pitch, leading to the pair exchanging words as the second baseman walked towards first.
With the situation escalating, both benches cleared to try and diffuse the mood, including Baldelli and pitching coach Pete Maki.
Jose Altuve and Aaron Sanchez jawed back at each other after the hit-by-pitch
Crucially, and apparently unbeknownst to Minnesota’s coaching staff, the incident was counted as a mound visit.
MLB rules state that a pitching change must be made if a team makes two mound visits in the same inning.
So when Maki went to the mound later in the inning to speak with Sanchez after he walked Yuli Gurriel, the team was informed it was their second mound visit of the inning and that Sanchez had to depart the game having pitched just 4.0 innings.
Baldelli was incensed at the umpire’s determination that the original incident counted as a mound visit, and argued with the officials feverishly about their decision.
Both benches cleared as they tried to diffuse the situation between Altuve and Sanchez
And Rocco Baldelli was livid when he learned Sanchez had to leave the game
He was soon ejected, leaving the Twins without their manager and starting pitcher as a result from the initial hit-by-pitch.
The Astros finished the game as 4-2 winners, marking the team’s eighth win in the last 12 games.
They’ll play Minnesota again Wednesday and Thursday to finish out their four-game series.