The benches cleared between the Atlanta Braves and Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday. They cleared twice. One of the incidents in question will lead to an investigation from Major League Baseball.
Blue Jays outfielder Kevin Pillar seemingly mouthed a homophobic slur at Braves pitcher Jason Motte, leading to an altercation between the two teams.
Pillar was upset over a “quick pitch” from Motte, which led to the confrontation.
Now, a day after this ugly scene unfolded MLB has announced it will investigate Pillar’s comments.
Major League Baseball is investigating Kevin Pillar's possible use of a homophobic slur last night in exchange with Jason Motte.
— Shi Davidi (@ShiDavidi) May 18, 2017
For his part, Pillar seemed to understand after the game that he made a major mistake.
“It was immature, it was stupid, it was uncalled for,” Pillar said, via USA Today Sports. “It’s part of the game, it’s just, I’m a competitive guy and heat of the moment. Obviously I’m going to do whatever I’ve got to do to reach out and apologize and let him know he didn’t do anything wrong, it was all me.”
We would argue that directing homophobic slurs in the direction of anyone is not “part of the game.”
In any event, it will be interesting to see what comes out of the MLB investigation. Remember, the Blue Jays themselves suspended Yunel Escobar three games back in 2012 after he wrote a slur of this ilk in Spanish on his eye black.