Both teams’ benches, and even the stands, were emptied during Oakland’s 7-2 win over the Astros on Sunday, in the latest episode of several months of animosity between rivals in the AL West, after Oakland pitcher Mike Fiers to expose the Houston signal theft scandal.
The Athletics’ ninth straight win was overshadowed by what happened in the seventh inning at the Coliseum.
The Dominican Ramón Laureano, of Oakland, received a ball – the third in the series of three games – this time from the Mexican Humberto Castellanos, with one out. Laureano began exchanging words with Astros hitting coach Alex Cintron and subsequently lunged from the start for the Houston dugout.
Astros catcher Dustin Carneau dropped Laureano before the outfielder could reach Cintron, and that’s when chaos broke out.
Players from both teams left the dugout to join the fight. Astros and Athletics players sitting in the stands, in accordance with social distancing protocols, also went down to the diamond.
Laureano was sent off by umpire Ted Barrett, and umpires were easily heard yelling at the players to “go back to the cave,” amid the silence in a stadium with no fans.
Oakland hitters received five hits in the series, while no Houston hitters were hit.
Former A’s catcher Austin Allen was also ejected, and Astros manager Dusty Baker was ejected a half inning later. Houston stacked its fifth loss.
Matt Olson hit a three-touchdown home run in the third inning and Matt Chapman blew the wall on the next pitch to extend the lead to 5-0 off Astros starter Cristian Javier (1-1).
The Athletics (12-4) matched the best 16-game start in the last 30 years of team history.
Rookie Jesús Luzardo (1-0) earned his first major league win in his second start.
For the Athletics, the Dominican Laureano 2-0.
For the Astros, Cuban Yulieski Gurriel 3-2 with two RBIs and one scored. Venezuelan José Altuve 4-1. Puerto Ricans Carlos Correa 4-0 and Martín Maldonado 3-0. AP (HN)