Bruce Bochy says Max Muncy is ‘poking the bear’ with t-shirt

By Jun 20, 2019, 9:46 PM EDT
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Earlier this month, Max Muncy hit a home run off of Madison Bumgarner that landed on the fly into McCovey Cove, a relatively rare feat, especially from opposing hitters. Bumgarner wasn’t happy that Muncy was admiring his homer as it soared in the air, so he yelled at Muncy to put his head down and run the bases. Muncy barked back at him. After the game, Muncy said, “I told him if he doesn’t want me to watch the ball, go get it out of the ocean.”

And lo, a catchphrase was born. T-shirts were immediately made and those shirts have found their way into the Dodgers’ clubhouse. Muncy worse a “Go Get It Out Of The Ocean” t-shirt during batting practice ahead of Thursday night’s game against the Giants in L.A., which will feature Bumgarner starting.

According to Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area, manager Bruce Bochy said of the shirt, “That’s poking the bear. You poke the bear enough and you can’t be upset if he bites back.” Bochy added, “they want to let kids play, but he’s fiery. I’ll miss that as much as anything, the way this man plays.”

It’s one thing to bark back at a player, but Bumgarner has a long history of stepping over the line. He has, on many occasions, thrown at hitters, escalating things into a benches-clearing confrontation. Bochy is certainly fair to say, “You poke the bear enough and you can’t be upset if he bites back.” However, if “bite” is a euphemism for intentionally throwing a 95 MPH fastball at a player, then that’s taking it too far. Rivalries and smack-talk are fun; injuries are not fun.

Aaron Judge hits 18th homer of season, Yankees beat Mariners 10-2

Associated PressMay 31, 2023, 1:13 AM EDT
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SEATTLE (AP) Aaron Judge homered for the third time in two games, Anthony Volpe and Greg Allen also went deep and the New York Yankees stretched their winning streak to four with a 10-2 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday night.

Judge hit a towering fly ball on the first pitch of the seventh inning from reliever Darren McCaughan that carried just enough to clear the fence in left-center field, even if it would not have been a homer at Yankee Stadium.

It was the 18th of the season for Judge, who hit a pair of homers in the series opener on Monday night.

While Judge hitting another homer will get the headlines, it was Volpe’s long ball that broke open the game. With two outs in the third inning, Seattle starter Logan Gilbert caught too much of the plate with a 1-2 slider and Volpe drove the pitch 413 feet for a three-run shot and a 6-0 lead. It was Volpe’s eighth homer of the season and snapped a 2-for-22 slide for the rookie.

Allen, filling in for injured center fielder Harrison Bader, hit his first of the season leading off the fourth inning. Isiah Kiner-Falefa also had a key two-run single in the first inning as the Yankees took advantage of an error to give starter Nestor Cortes a 3-0 advantage before he took the mound.

Kiner-Falefa had another two-run single in the ninth. New York has scored at least 10 runs in three straight games for the first time since Sept. 15-17, 2020.

Cortes (5-2) mostly cruised through five innings, allowing two runs and five hits with six strikeouts. Ty France and Teoscar Hernández had RBI doubles in the fifth inning. Judge nearly stole another hit from Hernández after robbing him of a homer on Monday, but his diving attempt at Hernández’s liner fell for a double.

Gilbert (3-3) lasted just four innings for the second time this season. The five earned runs allowed were a season-high and the four strikeouts matched a season-low.

SEE YA LATER

Seattle catcher Tom Murphy and manager Scott Servais were both ejected by plate umpire Brian Walsh in the sixth inning. Murphy was ejected after yelling toward first base umpire C.B. Bucknor following a check-swing that was called a strike. Servais argued the decision to eject Murphy and was quickly tossed by Walsh. It was the second ejection this season for Servais.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Yankees: Bader (hamstring) was placed on the 10-day IL after leaving Monday’s game in the third inning injuring his right hamstring running out an infield single. OF Franchy Cordero was recalled.

Mariners: McCaughan was recalled from Triple-A Tacoma to add a long reliever to the bullpen. RHP Juan Then was optioned to Tacoma. It was Seattle’s first roster move in 24 days.

UP NEXT

Yankees: RHP Clarke Schmidt (2-5, 5.58) took the loss despite allowing only one earned run over five innings in his last start against Baltimore. Schmidt has gone at least five inning in five of his last seven starts.

Mariners: RHP George Kirby (5-4, 3.43) was knocked around for seven earned runs and four home runs allowed in his last start against Pittsburgh. Both matched career highs.

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