Baseball is known for three things: dingers, hot dogs and archaic “unwritten rule”s that shall not be broken under any circumstance. The latter of that holy triumvirate was the cause of a kerfuffle in a minor league baseball matchup between the Hartford Yard Goats and Trenton Thunder on Wednesday night, when the Yard Goats had a no-hitter broken up in the 9th inning by, gasp, a push-bunt.
There are a couple things to note here. First off, the Yard Goats were throwing a diet no-hitter, as four different pitchers had combined to shut out and no-hit the Thunder over eight innings. Second off, the Thunder were only down 3-0 and in desperate need of a base-runner to start any sort of rally.
So, with one out in the bottom of the ninth, the Thunder’s Matt Lipka strode to the plate and laid down a perfect push-bunt that dribbled down the first base line for a base hit, ending the no-no and breaking the unwritten rule that you should never use a bunt to break up a no-hitter.
Here is the bunt that broke up the @GoYardGoats no-hit bid in the 9th. What does Hartford starter Rico Garcia think of it? 👉 https://t.co/JKJTmZDBEb pic.twitter.com/24r6ZHwEj4
— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) June 5, 2019
The Yard Goats weren’t thrilled with Lipka’s bunt, and after securing the final two outs to win 3-0, the Goats had some unkind words for Lipka, which led to a clearing of the benches.
Aftermath of a near fight at the end of the @GoYardGoats and @TrentonThunder game at Dunkin’ Donuts Park. 3-0 win for the Goats allowing only one hit as a team. #NoGoatsNoGlory #Pride #NBCCT @NBCConnecticut @GLucivero pic.twitter.com/N1QL5XUWFo
— Paul Ross (@RealPaulRoss) June 5, 2019
Here’s what Yard Goats starter Rico Garcia had to say about what happened:
“It is what it is,” said Garcia, who had started the game for Hartford and gone six. “[Lipka] was doing what he had to do. And we were really passionate about getting the no-hitter. It is what it is. I can’t really speak for what he was trying to do or what he was trying to accomplish. It’s unfortunate we couldn’t get the no-hitter. Emotions were high after.”
Is there anything more baseball than benches clearing because someone tried to bunt their way on base? No. No there there is not.
