A bench-clearing melee that began with Tim Anderson of the White Sox and José Ramírez of the Guardians exchanging punches at second base in the sixth inning led to six ejections during Chicago’s 7-4 victory over Cleveland on Saturday night.
Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase, manager Terry Francona and third base coach Mike Sarbaugh, and White Sox manager Pedro Grifol also were ejected for their actions during a 15-minute brawl that included three additional flare-ups.
The altercation began when Ramírez slid headfirst into second with an RBI double and Anderson stood over him. When Ramírez got up, he pointed his finger in Anderson’s face and yelled, prompting them to square off.
Anderson, who exited the ballpark before the clubhouse was opened to reporters, charged out of the dugout several minutes after being tossed, prompting teammate Andrew Vaughn to physically carry him to the clubhouse steps.
White Sox manager Pedro Grifol declined to talk about the fight, saying, “I’m going to let MLB figure this out. They’ve got some work to do. Thank God I haven’t heard any news out of the training room about injuries.”
Elvis Andrus hit a two-run homer and Vaughn, Luis Robert Jr. and Óscar Colás each had a solo shot off Guardians starter Noah Syndergaard (1-5), who allowed a career-high four home runs in his initial outing at Progressive Field.
Sarbaugh was tossed for aggressively moving toward Chicago’s coaching staff, while the blue-haired Clase had to be escorted back to the bullpen by teammate Josh Naylor, who is on the injured list.
White Sox right-hander Michael Kopech (5-10) carried a no-hitter into the sixth and exited after allowing two runs in 5 1/3 innings. He improved to 2-1 with a 1.78 ERA in five career starts against Cleveland.
Anderson and Ramírez are likely facing suspensions, and perhaps other participants in the fight as well.
Chicago is 24 games under .500, but the Guardians (54-57) are only 3 1/2 games behind first-place Minnesota in the AL Central.
Syndergaard, acquired from the Dodgers in a July 26 trade for Amed Rosario, worked six innings and gave up five runs, all on homers. Will Brennan had two hits and drove in two runs for the Guardians.
