Blue Jays right-hander Jose Berrios suspected Seattle’s Cal Raleigh was relaying pitch information to his Mariners teammates and wanted the hard-hitting catcher to know what he thought of it.
Berríos exchanged angry words with Raleigh as he walked back to the dugout at the end of the fourth inning of Saturday’s 8-4, 12-inning loss to the Mariners.
“I don’t react that way very often,” Berríos said. “I’m a quiet and chill guy. But when some people are trying to fight with us in the field, I don’t respect that. I don’t like that.”
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Both benches cleared as Berríos and Raleigh jawed back between third base and home plate, but the situation did not escalate. As relievers from both teams were running in from the bullpens, Toronto slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was waving his teammates back.
Raleigh denied relaying pitch information but said he understood Berríos’ reaction.
“I’d want my pitchers doing the same thing,” Raleigh said. “If somebody thought they were tipping, I’d want them to say something. Just how it is. Competitive baseball game. People are right in the heart of it.”
Blue Jays manager John Schneider said stealing signs and relaying pitch information is “fair game.”
“Teams do that. We get it,” Schneider said. “In the heat of the moment, you get a little bit fired up. I didn’t think the benches needed to clear. There was nothing crazy going on. But I like when our guys are sticking up for themselves.”
Raleigh came up again in the fifth and hit a two-run double to right field that put Seattle ahead 2-1. Raleigh finished 2-for-3 with three walks, one of them intentional.
In 20 games against the Blue Jays, Raleigh is batting .292 (21-for-72) with nine home runs and 18 RBIs.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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