Tempers flare during Mets-Phillies game, Pete Mackanin ejected - MLB

On September 22 last year, the Mets hosted the Phillies at Citi Field. While the Phillies’ hopes had already been dashed, the Mets were in the hunt for a Wild Card spot. They were on a three-game losing streak and were on their way to a fourth when shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera changed that, swatting a walk-off three-run home run off of Edubray Ramos in the bottom of the 11th inning. Cabrera flung his bat and raised his arms in triumph.

[mlbvideo id=”1182426383″ width=”600″ height=”336″ /]

It was a scene that Ramos apparently hasn’t forgotten. With the Mets in Philadelphia facing the Phillies for the first time this season, Ramos got the opportunity to face Cabrera with one out in the top of the eighth inning of a 2-2 game on Monday night. The first pitch Ramos threw to Cabrera was a fastball high and inside, not anywhere close to the strike zone, hitting the backstop when catcher Cameron Rupp couldn’t reach far enough to catch it. Cabrera, understandably, wasn’t happy about it and began walking towards Ramos. Ramos started walking in as well, and Rupp intervened with Cabrera before anything could happen.

Home plate umpire Alan Porter issued warnings to both benches, which drew Phillies manager Pete Mackanin’s ire. Mackanin was very visibly frustrated with Porter as he attempted to get an explanation, but ended up getting ejected. Ramos finished out the at-bat with Cabrera by walking him. After getting Yoenis Cespedes to strike out, Joely Rodriguez relieved Ramos and promptly served up a tie-breaking two-run home run to Jay Bruce — his second homer of the night.

Entering Monday’s appearance, Ramos had unintentionally walked 11 of the 174 batters he faced in the majors, a low 6.3 percent rate. He displayed similarly good control in the minors, unintentionally walking 49 of 833 batters faced (7.7%). It would seem especially coincidental that a reliever with the caliber of control that Ramos has displayed would just happen to throw so wildly at a batter who showed him up in a very memorable moment last season. Perhaps that is enough for commissioner Rob Manfred to take a look into the matter and punish Ramos.

Follow @Baer_Bill

YOKOHAMA, Japan – Trevor Bauer apparently was shunned by every major league team, so he’s signed a one-year deal with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars.

Before about 75 reporters in a Yokohama hotel, he slipped on the BayStars uniform – No. 96 – on Friday and said all the right things. Not a single Japanese reporter asked him about his suspension in the United States over domestic violence allegations or the reasons surrounding it.

The only question about it came from The Associated Press. Bauer disputed the fact the question suggested he was suspended from the major leagues.

“I don’t believe that’s accurate,” he said of the suspension. “But I’m excited to be here. I’m excited to pitch again. I’ve always wanted to play in Japan.”

He said the suspension dealt technically with matters of pay, and he said he had contacted major league teams about playing this year. He said he would have been eligible, but did not say if he had offers.

The 2020 NL Cy Young Award winner was released by the Los Angeles Dodgers on Jan. 12, three weeks after an arbitrator reduced his suspension imposed by Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred from 324 to 194 games.

The penalty followed an investigation into domestic violence, which the pitcher has denied.

Manfred suspended Bauer last April for violating the league’s domestic violence and sexual assault policy, after a San Diego woman said he beat and sexually abused her in 2021.

Bauer has maintained he did nothing wrong, saying everything that happened between him and the woman was consensual. He was never charged with a crime.

Bauer joined his hometown Dodgers before the 2021 season and was 8-5 with a 2.59 ERA in 17 starts before being placed on paid leave.

Bauer said his goal with the BayStars was to strike out 200 and keep his average fastball velocity at 96 mph – hence his uniform number. He said he is also working on a better change-up pitch.

He said he hoped to play by mid-April – about two weeks after the Japanese season begins – and said he has been training for the last 1 1/2 years.

“I’ve been doing a lot of strength training and throwing,” he said. “I didn’t really take any time off. So I’ve had a year and a half of development time. I’m stronger than ever. More powerful than ever.”

Yokohama has not won a title in 25 years, and Bauer said that was his goal in the one-year deal.

“First and foremost, I want to help the Stars win a championship,” he said. “That involves pitching well. That involves helping teammates and learning from them. If they have questions – you know – share my knowledge with them.”

He also repeated several times about his desire to play in Japan, dating from a collegiate tournament in 2009 at the Tokyo Dome. He said playing in Japan was on his mind even before winning the Cy Young – and also immediately after.

“The Tokyo Dome was sold out,” he said. “I’d never played in front of that many people – probably combined in my life. In the United States, college games aren’t very big, so seeing that amount of passion. How many people came to a college game in Japan. It really struck me.”

He said he’d been practicing with the Japanese ball, which he said was slightly softer with higher seams.

“But overall it just feels like a baseball and the pitches move the same. The velocity is similar. I don’t notice much of a difference.”

Other teams in Japan have made similar controversial signings before.

Former major league reliever Roberto Osuna – who received a 75-game suspension for violating MLB’s domestic violence policy – signed last season with the Chiba Lotte Marines.

He has signed for this season with the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks.

In 1987, Dodgers relief pitcher Steve Howe, who had a career plagued with drug problems, tried to sign with the Seibu Lions. But he did not play in the country after the Japanese baseball commissioner disqualified Howe because of his history of drug abuse.

Bauer was an All-Star in 2018 and went 83-69 with a 3.79 ERA in 10 seasons for Arizona (2012), Cleveland, (2013-19), Cincinnati (2019-20) and the Dodgers. He won the NL Cy Young Award with Cincinnati during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.