The Chicago White Sox, in the middle of the rubber match against the Pittsburgh Pirates, saw an ugly scene happen in the field. The benches cleared because of a collision at the plate.
Oneil Cruz was on third base and he was running home on a ground ball to third base. It was a tough play at third and the throw to Seby Zavala at the plate was poor.
The throw was a little high and it caused the aforementioned collision. Cruz’s leg bent backward and there was clearly a bad injury on the play.
Some words were said and the benches cleared. The bullpen also did that thing where they run out well after the fact and just create more chaos. It wasn’t a pretty scene in Pittsburgh.
The Chicago White Sox and Pittsburgh Pirates cleared the benches on Sunday.
During the sequence, starting pitcher Michael Kopech seemed to be incredibly angry at something that was said. Luckily, he didn’t get ejected because he was finally having a great start-up to that point.
It is important that Kopech stays under control because he is very important to the things that the White Sox are trying to do in 2023. He also needs to stay healthy and fighting everyone in sight is not a good way to do that.
This is the last game of the series so there won’t be any bad blood spilled over right now which is good. Luckily, nobody else was hurt either which is incredibly important.
It can be entertaining at times but you never want to see your team involved in things like this so that there are no injuries or suspensions.
Of course, the worst part of it all is that the White Sox lost their second straight series. They aren't winning consistently yet and it is looking like it is going to be hard to do so this year.
The good news is that Kopech had a good outing and only allowed one run. The bullpen also didn't give up much and they lost 1-0. After a week of amazing offensive production from everyone, they weren't even able to score one run and it cost them the game.
Hopefully, the drama from this game has no negative effects on the team as they need to really start to buckle down here with the Minnesota Twins up next.