DENVER. – What began as a two-run home run by
Rafael Devers in the first inning ended in a chaotic spectacle at Coors Field, after the benches and bullpens of the Rockies and Giants emptied following a cross of words and pushing between the protagonists.
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The incident occurred when Devers, after sending a pitch on a 0-2 count from the left-handed
Kyle Freeland into the right field stands, took a few seconds to admire the trajectory of the ball before starting his run around the bases. The gesture unleashed the fury of the Colorado pitcher, who began shouting at him and gesturing with his glove for him to run.
Devers responded before reaching first base and both faced each other, which caused the stampede of players from both teams towards the field. The situation became more tense when the Giants’ third baseman,
Matt Chapman, and the Dominican
Willy Adames intervened, being finally ejected along with Freeland by the umpires.
The scene forced the game to be stopped for several minutes. In fact, Devers completed his home run trot
eight minutes later after hitting the 397-foot hit, which made it the longest run in MLB history.
Despite the ejections and tension, the Giants recovered and achieved a 7-4 victory, their ninth in their last ten matches, thus returning above .500 (70-69). In addition to Devers, the offensive power was backed by home runs from
Casey Schmitt, Wilmer Flores and
Patrick Bailey, while starting pitcher
Logan Webb was credited with the win with seven strikeouts in five innings.
Freeland, with a 3-14 record and a 5.41 ERA in the season, justified his reaction by pointing out that he felt “disrespected” by Devers’ attitude. However, the Dominican third baseman defended his celebration:
“I didn’t do anything wrong. I didn’t do anything different than when I hit a home run. I don’t know why it bothered him,” Devers expressed.
