ANAHEIM — Benches briefly cleared after the Angels’ Zach Neto and Mike Trout had been hit by pitches from Rangers reliever Shawn Armstrong within the eighth inning on Tuesday.
With Gustavo Campero on third and one out with the Angels 7-5, Neto was hit by a 2-2 fastball from Armstrong and simply two pitches later, Trout was hit on the hand on an analogous 92-mph fastball. Interim supervisor Ray Montgomery was upset, yelling on the Rangers’ dugout as he walked close to house plate. He mentioned after the 8-5 Angels’ win that he was simply asking the Rangers to scrub issues up, because it was the fourth hit batter of the evening. Trout was the fourth Angel hit by a pitch within the sport.
“We all know these guys so nicely,” Montgomery mentioned. “I do not suppose the intent was something greater than clearly guys getting hit. However in the identical breath, you get 4 hit-by-pitches, you hit our second baseman, our shortstop, after which Mike. The one factor I mentioned was, ‘What number of instances are you going to hit a man?’ I wasn’t insinuating that they had been intentional.”
Rangers supervisor Bruce Bochy mentioned he didn’t hear what precisely Montgomery was saying, however he didn’t take kindly to his actions.
“I simply heard the yelling and that was sufficient,” Bochy mentioned, including that hitting guys deliberately was the very last thing they had been making an attempt to do. “I introduced [Armstrong] in to maintain them from scoring a run. However I suppose we hit any individual and it’s intentional, however after they hit [Corey] Seager it’s not. I simply thought that was sufficient.”
Each benches cleared. The bullpens additionally cleared with relievers from each groups operating in from left discipline.
“It’s comprehensible,” mentioned Rangers catcher Kyle Higashioka. “We’re clearly not making an attempt to hit them, however you may see their facet, too. They’ve each proper to be pissed about it. For me, it’s simply a part of the sport.”
Trout, who mentioned the pitch hit the padding on his hand, mentioned he was happy to see his supervisor stick up for him and his teammates.
“The boys cherished it,” Trout mentioned. “Simply sticking up for his gamers, sticking up for his guys. It’s enjoyable to see.”
However nothing finally got here of the kerfuffle and nobody was ejected. Nolan Schanuel gave the Angels an insurance coverage run with a sacrifice fly in opposition to Armstrong earlier than Taylor Ward struck out to finish the inning.
Angels nearer Kenley Jansen by no means stopped warming up within the bullpen and got here in for the ninth inning to select up his twentieth save in 21 possibilities this 12 months. It marked his thirteenth season with no less than 20 saves.
“Someone needed to shut the ballgame,” Jansen mentioned with a smile. “So I wasn’t going to let that get me out of my sport. I favor to remain on the mound and keep centered to assist this crew win.
