Frustration is boiling over for the Pittsburgh Pirates, who have played in three straight do-or-die National League Wild Card Games and look poised to drop this one to the visiting Chicago Cubs.
Jake Arrieta entered his at-bat in the top of the seventh inning having whiffed eight Pittsburgh batters over six scoreless innings. With two outs and nobody on, Pirates reliever Tony Watson struck Arrieta in the backside with a pitch that looked intentionally located.
Both benches cleared, and it was Pirates utilityman Sean Rodriguez who served as the most physical aggressor. He tried to throw a punch at Cubs backup catcher David Ross at one point, and grazed Kyle Schwarber on the miss. Here’s the video, though it doesn’t include the Rodriguez punch (er, attempted punch) ...
[mlbvideo id="520275083" width="640" height="360" /]
Chicago is leading 4-0 in Pittsburgh in the top of the eighth inning.
