On Tuesday night, the Houston Astros and Seattle Mariners faced off in a heated matchup that ended in a benches-clearing brawl. The incident was sparked by Astros pitcher Humberto Castellanos, who taunted Mariners outfielder Julio Rodriguez after striking him out.
The drama began in the bottom of the fourth inning when Castellanos struck out Rodriguez on a 3-2 pitch. After the strikeout, Castellanos taunted Rodriguez by pointing at him and shouting. This prompted Rodriguez to take a few steps towards the mound, and the benches soon cleared as both teams rushed to the field.
The brawl was quickly broken up by the umpires, but not before several punches were thrown. Both teams were issued warnings, and Castellanos was ejected from the game. After the incident, Rodriguez said that he was just trying to protect himself and that he didn’t think Castellanos was trying to start a fight.
This is not the first time that Castellanos has been involved in a benches-clearing brawl. In 2017, he was involved in a similar incident with the Texas Rangers. He was suspended for five games after that incident.
It remains to be seen if Castellanos will face any disciplinary action for his role in Tuesday night’s brawl. However, it is clear that his taunting of Rodriguez was the catalyst for the incident. It is also clear that tensions between the two teams are running high and that further incidents could occur if players do not show more restraint.
