Keep your elbows to yourself.
The benches cleared in Chicago on Wednesday night after White Sox infielder Sam Antonacci elbowed Pirates second baseman Brandon Lowe while trying to break up a double play.
While Antonacci did not deliver an egregious blow by any means, Lowe and others took issue and the Pirates veteran seemingly told him during the ado: “What the f–k is the matter with you?”
“I just didn’t like the slide. Said my piece and walked away,” Lowe said after the Pirates’ 4-2 win at Rate Field in the middle contest of this three-game set, per MLB.com. “I don’t really know what led to it clearing, but bad slide the first night, bad slide tonight, and just kind of tired of it … He said something back. I reiterated what I said, and then I thought that was the end of it, and just kind of walked and went about my business, and then saw our guys coming out, and next thing I know, they were clear.”
Antonacci, however, defended his actions which ultimately went for naught with Lowe turning the double play to escape a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the seventh inning to preserve a 4-1 lead.
“Just to try to make a harder throw for him to have to make,” Antonacci said, according to MLB.com. “Completely legal play. If you go look at the rulebook or go look at what happened, you can slide as late as you want as long as you keep contact with the bag and that’s exactly what happened.”
Every game is critical for Pittsburgh in its unlikely quest to claim the final NL playoff spot and Wednesday’s game hung in the balance when Yohan Ramirez faced Miguel Vargas with the bases loaded.
Vargas rolled over a pitch to third baseman Jared Triolo, who fired to Lowe at second for the tailor-made 5-4-3 double play.
Lowe began his throwing process while Antonacci slid and the ball had already been released from his hand when Antonacci popped up with an elbow into the veteran’s hip.
One announcer noted how Antonacci has done this before “where he sticks out that chicken wing.”
Lowe admitted to speaking his mind to Antonacci while he left the field, and cameras captured the White Sox infielder being restrained by an umpire while other Pirates chastised him.
Benches cleared and Lowe returned to the diamond, chirping at Antonacci and asking him the expletive-filled question.
Antonacci ripped Lowe for walking away after calling him out.
“Here, we’re trying to get a run in any way we can. That’s a close ballgame, these are playoff games and all I’m trying to do is scratch a run there,” he said, per MLB.com. “I’m sure he’s a great guy, but he had a few choice words to say at the end and then kind of walked away after that. When you have a problem and you walk away like that, I’m happy enough to have a conversation, but you can’t walk away. He’s a grown man. With all that being said, they won the game. They get the last laugh, I guess you could say.”
White Sox manager Will Venable defended Antonacci for his actions.
“I mean, we’ve seen it a couple of times before. Obviously Sammy goes out there and plays extremely hard,” Venable said, per MLB.com. “I wouldn’t say anything he does is dirty, but you understand when guys play hard and there’s contact. At this point, Sammy is probably developing a reputation [as someone] who goes out and plays hard and puts his body on the line.”
The Pirates (73-73) returned to .500 for the first time since Aug. 3 with their third straight win and will go for the series sweep Thursday night.
They sit five games back of the Diamondbacks for the third and final NL Wild Card spot with 16 games left on each team’s respective schedule.
The White Sox (75-70) have now dropped three of their last four and own just a two-game edge over the Guardians in the NL Central with the teams set to meet in Cleveland from Sept. 14-16.
