A bench-clearing brawl broke out in the 6th inning of today's game between the New York Yankees and Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park, sparked by a fight at home plate between Yankees catcher, Austin Romine, and Tigers slugger, Miguel Cabrera.
Things started to get out of control when Yankees pitcher, Tommy Kahnle, threw a 96-mph fastball behind Miguel Cabrera just one inning after Detroit starter, Michael Fulmer, beaned DH Gary Sanchez, who had homered earlier in the game. Kahnle was immediately ejected after throwing behind Miggy, which infuriated Yankees manager Joe Girardi, who was also tossed when he came out to argue.
The Yankees then brought in Aroldis Chapman to pitch but right after he finished warming up, Romine and Cabrera started jawing. Romine removed his mask, Cabrera shoved him and then the two started throwing hands as an all-out brawl ensued. According to the New York Post, Gary Sanchez, who had been hit earlier in the game, came off the bench and punched Cabrera in the face while Romine was on top of him, which could lead to a suspension.
Romine and Cabrera were ultimately ejected from the game for starting the melee.
The bad blood from these two teams likely carried over from their meeting last month when Kahnle hit Detroit's Mikie Mahtook in the head with a 98-mph fastball, though the first two games of this series showed no signs of any eruption like fans witnessed today. The Yankees have dominated both games in this series so far, winning 13-4, and 10-2. At the time of today's 6th inning brawl the Tigers were on top 6-3.
New York has much more at stake when it comes to potential suspensions, as they are currently 4.5 games behind the Boston Red Sox for the top spot in the American League East, while the Tigers are not even close to sniffing a playoff spot. The Yanks currently own the top spot in the American League Wild Card standings.
Check out some of the footage from today's brawl below.