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The best revenge is living well and Jose Bautista sure did that when he crushed a home run to left center after Orioles’ rookie Jason Garcia lost control of a previous fastball that zipped behind Bautista’s back. Ball field justice? Eh, Bautista went a little further, taking the long way around the bases after an admiring glance at his handi-work. A move that was not appreciated by Orioles second baseman Ryan Flaherty, first baseman Steve Pearce, or centerfielder Adam Jones, who kept things going in-between innings with a little verbal back-and-forth with Bautista.
Jones was eventually lifted from the game by manager Buck Showalter in an effort to shield him from retaliation in the 9th inning of the Blue Jays blowout victory, but Jones’ post game comments indicate that this probably isn’t over.
“Let’s not walk halfway to first down the line,” Jones told Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith. “Come on. Respect the game. And I know he does but at that moment right there he didn’t. … You ain’t gonna sit there and pimp me. You pimp the pitchers, you’re pimping me too.”
It’s been widely noted that Jones may have been more inclined to say something due to the fact that Garcia is a 22-year-old rookie who had never pitched above A-ball prior to this season. A Rule V pick, the Orioles have to carry Garcia all season on their roster, so it’s understandable why they wouldn’t want to see his confidence get obliterated in April. According to manager Buck Showalter, Garcia wasn’t trying to throw at Bautista.
“You understand what it looks like, but we’re trying to get people out there.”
Clearly, though, Bautista wasn’t buying that view of events, and he wasn’t too sensitive to the Orioles objections over his languorous home run trot.
“I play with a lot of passion, you throw at me, I’m not going to forget,” he told Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi. “If I get you right after then I’m going to enjoy it. And I did.”
The Orioles and the Blue Jays are set to play two more games in this series, so expect to see some kind of tussle, a few hit batsmen, and an ejection or two over the next two days.
Source: The Score
