The Cardinals just dropped two of three to the Brewers in a crucial early-week series, falling 3 1/2 games back of Milwaukee in the National League Central standings. And now it appears that the Cards’ problems have spilled off the field.
According to Craig Mish of SiriusXM, catchers Yadier Molina and Gerald Laird got into an “ugly” fight on Wednesday night after arriving in south Florida for a four-game series against the Marlins.
Not many details are currently available, and it’s possible that nothing more will leak out, but Mish was told that Laird called Molina a “cheater” at one point during the scuffle and that teammates eventually had to separate the two backstops.
Molina was suspended five games by Major League Baseball for bumping and spraying spittle onto home plate umpire Rob Drake during Tuesday night’s 8-7 victory in Milwaukee. Laird has been vaulted into starting duties in his absence. Perhaps that situation somehow played into Wednesday’s altercation.
Or maybe the brawl was born out of a high-stakes poker game. Bud Selig hates those.
UPDATE, 8:04 PM: According to Tim McKernan of KFNS 590 in St. Louis, Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak has confirmed that Laird and Molina got “into a disagreement” on Wednesday night.
