The beauty of pointing out a moment in a baseball game is that it can happen in a lot of different parts. In a standard game, there are at least 17 half-innings. Thousands of pitches are thrown and for this week, the one in question is the very first for one team.
Catch up on last week’s Shenanigans here.
The History
In Friday’s game between the Braves and Marlins, Ronald Acuna Jr. leadoff for Atlanta in the bottom of the first. Pablo Lopez‘s first pitch was up-and-in and hit Acuna. This was not the first time the Marlins have hit Acuna early in a game. After the star outfielder constantly hit first-inning home runs against Miami, former Marlin and current Tiger Jose Urena got aggressive. He was suspended for the following video:
Since then, the Marlins have now hit Acuna four more times. It is a weird rivalry that is mostly centered on one player for the Braves. Although multiple Miami pitchers have gotten in on the act. Whether Lopez intentionally hit Acuna, we will never know. However, it made Braves manager Brian Snitker very, very angry. Snitker came out to argue with the umpires, and after a quick discussion, they tossed Lopez.
This only upset Marlins manager and Yankees legend Don Mattingly. He felt that Snitker ejected Lopez, not the umpires. After a few minutes of arguing, Mattingly joined Lopez in being ejected. As the Miami skipper pointed out, this had ramifications on the entire series. The Marlins now had to find nine innings from their bullpen, damaging it for the next few games. Ross Detwiler pitched three innings and Anthony Bender got the next two, filling in Lopez’s expected load.
Karma!
Well, no matter which side you are on in this debate, the game’s outcome was pretty funny. Despite throwing just the one pitch, Lopez was charged with a loss. Acuna scored later in the inning on an Ozzie Albies sac fly. No more runs were scored in the game, and the Braves took the series opener by a score of 1-0.
The rest of the effects made by the ejection are yet to be seen. The series is just one game in, but not having Detwiler or likely Bender for a few days puts the pressure on Marlins starters Sandy Alcantara and Zach Thompson.
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Main Image Credit: Embed from Getty Images
