Jose Ramirez clocks Tim Anderson in face as Cleveland Guardians, Chicago White Sox brawl
A Saturday evening matchup of the Chicago White Sox and Cleveland Guardians got ugly in the bottom of the sixth inning. After Guardians infielder Jose Ramirez slid in under a tag at second, he took umbrage with said tag from White Sox infield Tim Anderson.
Not one to back down or let it slide, Anderson started jawing back. The field umpires attempt to diffuse the situation and separate the two was futile.
There was even a hockey-esque glove dropping and squaring up from Anderson, but it was Ramirez who popped him with a righty punch that sent the White Sox star tumbling to his posterior.
The incident naturally led to a number of ejections.
It seems Ramirez was upset with the tag itself, either from getting smacked around the head and shoulders or the way Anderson held it on him for so long. Either way, he turned and complained and stuck his arm out, which Anderson didn’t like, and it dissolved from there.
But the initial sparring bout was not the end of the action.
After umpires and cooler heads on either side had seemingly gotten the teams separated when White Sox catcher Yasmani Grandal stormed out of the dugout and joined a confrontation. As that argument between two coaches was diffused, another pair of coaches nearly came to blows and the Guardians Mike Sarbaugh wanted a piece of White Sox manager Pedro Grifol.
To cap off Round 2, Anderson, after regaining his composure after getting punched down by Ramirez, was eventually moved toward his dugout. Eventually he got loose and started to make his way toward the Guardians dugout, but was intercepted by teammates, leaving him to point at someone.
Meanwhile, White Sox veteran Eloy Jimenez was seen waving his arms, asking both sides to reach a detente. Eventually he got caught in the melee and was later seen limping around.
Things started to quiet down, though Guardians reliever Emmanuel Clase seemed to want some action and was escorted back out to the bullpen, but it would be irrelevant, as Clase was ejected from the game.
Ejected from the game for the White Sox were Grifol and Anderson. For the Guardans, manager Terry Francona, Ramirez, Clase and Sarbaugh were all ejected from the game.
Needless to say, tomorrow’s 12:05 EST get-away game will hold the potential for some more ill will and fireworks between the two divisional foes.