There were some fireworks this afternoon between division rivals Detroit and Chicago at Comerica Park.
Chicago’s Jose Abreu was hit by Detroit’s Alex Lange, which eventually prompted both benches to clear after Abreu slid late into 2nd base. After the game, Lange indicated that the White Sox were jawing him from their bench after the incident.
“He’s leaning out over the plate. He sees I’m working away. Our (scouting) report says we finish him up and in,” Lange said after the game. “That’s where I was going. Obviously it wasn’t intentional.
“It happens. It’s baseball. I’m allowed to pitch in. I wasn’t headhunting. There was nothing malicious about it.”
For Tigers manger AJ Hinch, who was seen waving away White Sox players from the bench and responding verbally, he’s going to stand up for his team.
“I’m going to stand up for my player,” Hinch said. “There’s no reason to bark at Lange. You can bark at me or you can bark at the umpire. I wasn’t even sure who was yelling over there. But the umpires took control of it and we moved on.”
While both benches were warned, there were no ejections other than Chicago bench coach Miguel Cairo.
“(Abreu) went aggressive into second base, the old-school way, and tensions got a little bit high and then we’re all out on the field,” Hinch said. “I don’t see a reason to think that anybody was throwing at anybody. I don’t think they hit us on purpose and I don’t think we hit them on purpose. But I think emotions just boiled over because of the went aggressive into second the old school and and in the in the slide and then tensions got a little bit high and emotions got high and then we’re all out on the field so you know I don’t see a reason to think that anybody was thrown in jail I don’t think they hit us on purpose I don’t think we hit them on purpose you don’t see that a lot anymore but I think emotions just boiled over because of the entire event.”
– – Quotes via MLive Link – –
