Last night the Atlanta Braves finally fired back at the Toronto Blue Jays for carrying out an immensely pathetic beef during the four-game series.
The saga had mostly been perpetrated by the Jays, who had hit Braves batters seven times going into last night’s game—including Freddie Freeman on the hand, who’s expected to be out 10-12 weeks.
Benches have cleared multiple times, including after Kevin Pillar called Braves pitcher Jason Motte a “fag” or “faggot.” On Wednesday night Jose Bautista flipped his bat after a home run, so Thursday night the Braves decided to settle this issue with a single plunking to Bautista’s thigh.
They weren’t very subtle about it in the process. On the first pitch to Bautista in the top of the first, Julio Teheran threw way inside but missed hitting his target. Catcher Tyler Flowers then pointed right at Bautista with the inside-fastball sign.
Bautista took his base in the first, but hit a double off Teheran the next time he faced him in the third. Somehow, Bautista always manages to put something together right after someone pisses him off.
CORRECTION: Due to an editing error, this post originally characterized Flowers’s inside-fastball sign as a visual order to hit Bautista.
[Fox Sports South]