If you thought we’d get through the series between the Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh Pirates without one bench-clearing incident, you were wrong. On Wednesday, the benches for both sides cleared after Pittsburgh pitcher Joe Musgrove slid hard and late into Chicago second baseman Javier Baez.
https://twitter.com/DrunkRizz44/status/1001979912318849025
Fortunately, this situation seemed to be fairly quickly resolved. By the time the teams got to second base, it appeared as though Musgrove and Baez had squashed any conflict.
Still, emotions are definitely high between these teams. Cubs’ first baseman Anthony Rizzo took out Pirates catcher Elias Diaz with a slide on Monday. Subsequent comments from both Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle and Chicago skipper Joe Maddon did nothing to negate any of the tension.
While Wednesday’s game is the final one in this series, the two teams are far from done with each other. They’ll square off in a three-game series from June 8-10 in Chicago and play 10 times after the All-Star break.