An AL Central showdown between the Cleveland Guardians and Chicago White Sox took a wild turn in the sixth inning. A brawl broke out between José Ramírez of the Guardians and Tim Anderson of the White Sox. By the time it was over, Ramírez, Anderson, and both managers had been ejected.
The fight began after Ramírez slid into second base after hitting an RBI double to put the Guardians on the board and cut the deficit to 5-1. To reach the base, Ramírez slid hands-first through Anderson's legs. After being called safe, Ramírez tapped Anderson's leg and extended his hand as if asking Anderson for help getting up. Anderson refused and as soon as Ramírez got up, the two men started arguing. Dodging around second-base umpire Malachi Moore, the two men began swinging closed-fist punches at each other. While Ramírez and Anderson were dragged away by teammates, managers Terry Francona (Cleveland) and Pedro Gifrol (Chicago) continued to argue in the middle of the field. They were both eventually tossed, as were Cleveland's third base coach Mike Sarbaugh and relief pitcher Emmanuel Chase.
Ramírez Explains Anderson Fight
"He said he wanted to fight and I had to defend myself," Ramírez said in the wake of the 7-4 Guardians loss. "There are a lot of people upset. Thank God I haven't heard of any news out of the trainer's room. I'm not going to talk about it. I'm going to let MLB figure this out. They've got some work to do," Grifol said of the fight. Meanwhile, Francona noted that "It wasn't funny, but boys will be boys." Both players will likely face suspensions. Meanwhile, Anderson is confirmed to miss the series finale on August 6. However, Grifol claims that this was a planned off-day.
It's unclear what started the fight. However, it has been an especially tense series between the two teams. Ramírez said that he was tired of Anderson being disrespectful. He also claimed that before the fight, Anderson had been told to stop "jawing off" at Guardians outfielder Gabriel Arias. Meanwhile, Anderson was seen pushing shortstop Brayan Rocchio off the bag during the August 4 game between the teams. While Rocchio was called out, he was later deemed safe following a review.
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