Houston Astros pitcher Noe Ramirez drilled Los Angeles Outfielder Jake Marisnick with some high heat Wednesday in retaliation for the outfielder’s collision with catcher Jonathan Lucroy roughly two weeks ago.
With a four run lead in the sixth inning, the Angels opted to respond to a play they found extremely dirty that required Lucroy to go through the concussion protocol as well as surgery for a broken nose. (RELATED: Yadier Molina Calls Out Jake Marisnick After Home Plate Collision)
The benches cleared after first-baseman Albert Pujols argued with the Astros bench, who were extremely upset with the intentional hit-by-pitch.
Here is the video:
Trash organization, trash manager, trash fans cheering a trash “pitch.” And @JSMarisnick stays classy through the whole thing. @astros #Angels #TakeItBack pic.twitter.com/jRabh2fpjl
— Adam Clanton (@adamclanton) July 17, 2019
This is what baseball has been about for ages. One team gets upset about a certain play and the other team responds by using a 90+ mph weapon to intentionally injure another player.
Obviously, the Astros are right to stand by Marisnick who handled the situation surprisingly well. It seems like the outfielder was expecting a retaliation eventually, as he understood what he did in the first place could easily be viewed as a dirty play.
Here is the original play:
ICYMI Play in the 8th when Jake Marisnick was initially called safe following a collision w/ Jonathan Lucroy at the plate. After the play was reviewed Jake was ruled out. @LAAngelsPR said Lucroy was taken to a local hospital to be evaluated for a possible concusion &nose fracture pic.twitter.com/I8fM0ZBANH
— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) July 7, 2019
Even though Marisnick probably earned a hit-by-pitch for the collision several days ago, I do have a problem with the location of the fastball. In no circumstances should any pitcher intentionally aim for the head of an opposing batter.
What Jake Marisnick did tonight was impressive. Fans made his hometown an awful place to play, booing him every AB & every play he was involved in. All he did was come up with 2 hits, a SB and tried to diffuse what might have been a brawl after he was intentionally thrown at.
— Julia Morales (@JuliaMorales) July 17, 2019
We may be seeing the beginning of a rivalry brewing between these two American League teams. The two teams have two games remaining in the series continuing tonight. Let’s see if there are any more fireworks in tonight’s game.