Washington Nationals’ slugger Bryce Harper tripled to right to start the third inning of this afternoon’s series finale in Pittsburgh’s PNC Park.
Harper slid in awkwardly, however, when Pirates’ third baseman Jung Ho Kang faked a tag play at the bag.
Harper appeared to jam/injure his thumb, but remained in the game in the immediate aftermath, scoring on an RBI single to by Anthony Rendon to put the Nats on top, 4-3.
It didn’t end there. Dusty Baker directed some words at the Pirates’ dugout after going to third to check on Harper and a half-inning later, when Kang stepped to the plate, A.J. Cole threw a first-pitch fastball behind the infielder’s back.
Home plate ump Jordan Baker immediately ejected Cole, but a couple players trickled out of the dugouts and then the dugouts emptied, with normally level-headed Pirates’ infielder Sean Rodriguez losing his cool and going after a National (it looked like it was Oliver Perez or Jayson Werth).
Both sides were separated after a meetup on the third base/left side of home plate and order was restored.
Rafael Martin came on to strike Kang out and end the inning. Will the tension end there?
Washington doesn’t need to get involved in anything like this right now. Avoiding injuries should be the main concern.
Harper stayed in the game, long enough to score, but did appear to jam/hurt his left thumb on the play. He was replaced in right after the inning ended.
Here’s a Vine we shot of the play at third, we’ll post video of the fracas when/if it’s available...
#Pirates' 3B Jung Ho Kang fakes a tag and forces Bryce Harper into an awkward slide at third. #poorform https://t.co/4k69RGaHUY
— federalbaseball (@federalbaseball) September 25, 2016