Jesus Guzman and Madison Bumgarner are the latest National League West stars to make headlines. While guys like Yasiel Puig have been doing it on the field, Guzman and Bumgarner did so with their fists.Wednesday afternoon had yet another...
Jesus Guzman and Madison Bumgarner are the latest National League West stars to make headlines. While guys like Yasiel Puig have been doing it on the field, Guzman and Bumgarner did so with their fists.Wednesday afternoon had yet another bench-clearing brawl in the NL West in store for us, and things got ugly.After the San Francisco Giants kept Guzman in the minors for years, he finally got his chance in the big leagues with the San Diego Padres, and he didn't take too kindly to the Giants failing to utilize him.On Tuesday night, Guzman belted a go-ahead, two-run home run in the eighth inning off Matt Cain to put the Padres up, 4-3. As he trotted (or skipped) down the first base line he yelled to his bench and showed up his former club.Bumgarner took notice.When Bumgarner faced Guzman for the first time on Wednesday afternoon he got his revenge, throwing way inside on Guzman on the first pitch of the at-bat.Bumgarner was clearly sending a message not to taunt the Giants, and Guzman was furious, walking out to meet the pitcher before catcher Buster Posey and home plate umpire Tony Randazzo held him back.However, Bumgarner appears to have preferred that the two let him go, as he walked over to Guzman, shouting at him the whole way.As the two got closer, the rest of the players got involved and the benches cleared, resulting in both teams pushing and shoving each other, although no serious fights broke out.It's not like the shot at Guzman on Wednesday was unexpected.
If I were Jesus Guzman's ribs, I'd double my life insurance before he stands in against Bumgarner tomorrow. #sfgiants.— Henry Schulman (@hankschulman) June 19, 2013
The fact of the matter is that if you show up your former team, you're in trouble. No self-respecting team of professional athletes is going to take any form of taunting lying down, and even the fans started jumping on Guzman.
#Giants fans take great delight in Sergio Romo whiffing Jesus Guzman on three pitches to start the ninth.— Steve Corkran (@CorkOnTheNFL) June 19, 2013
From all of us here at AT&T Park, you stay classy Jesus Guzman!— Will Candlestick ™ (@CandlestickWill) June 19, 2013
Bumgarner certainly feels the same way the fans do, as he kept things short and simple in his postgame interview.
Madison Bumgarner said, "there's no need to talk about that," when asked about throwing a pitch behind Jesus Guzman's back in the 2nd inning.— Steve Corkran (@CorkOnTheNFL) June 20, 2013
This was just another fight between NL West rivals, and it was the third major scrum of the year.The Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers got things started when Zack Greinke plunked Carlos Quentin and Quentin charged at Greinke, ultimately breaking his collarbone and putting him on the DL for a month.Exactly two months after fighting the Padres, the Dodgers were at it again with the Arizona Diamondbacks.Greinke hit Miguel Montero to defend his teammates after Puig was hit the nose by an Ian Kennedy pitch, leading to both benches clearing.Nothing serious happened until the next inning, however, when Kennedy went upstairs again and hit Greinke, which sparked a brawl between both clubs as the benches cleared for a second time.Puig was in the middle of the fracas and had to be held back, according to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports.
The Diamondbacks were still talking about Puig’s actions Wednesday, saying that the Dodgers were shouting at him, “No! Not you!” as he kept charging back into the melee. Nine games into his career, Puig is already that valuable. The Dodgers were fearful of losing him to an ejection (which happened) and a suspension (which almost certainly will follow). Puig, though, was in a rage. Kennedy had hit him the previous inning, grazing his nose with a 92-mph fastball. According to several Diamondbacks, Puig kept shouting, “Yo soy Cubano!"—“I am a Cuban!”—as he drifted in and out of the fight, at one point landing a ha