Benches clearing in Cincinnati

Aj hinch will call and apologize to both teams.

I wish someone would punch Votto

Yeah, he's a douhe.

It was bound to happen in Toronto. Donaldson nearly got hit in the face twice

Benches cleared in Toronto because the Royals continue to hit opponents franchise players up and in. I'm convinced they are doing it on purpose at this point. It seems like once a week a high profile players is getting smoked up and in by a royals pitcher

They hit McCutchen because Pittsburgh hit Marlon Byrd last night. Once Phillips got hit it was time for them to clear. Just unnecessary

Pittsburgh hits more batters than anyone and McCutchen wonders why he gets hit alot.

blanton hit byrd last night, then cutch was hit today, then phillips was hit, then melancon hit a guy that was 0-3 on the day and put the tying run on and was tossed. i don't know if blanton and byrd have some beef going back, because the situation and the players involved don't seem to have any intent. hell, marlon byrd was a huge part of the pirates run down the stretch for the wildcard last year.

the pirates make no bones about pitching inside, thus hitting more batters. pitchers go inside on cutch to move him off the plate, so he gets more than his fair share of HBP as well.

for the pirates, i think this is more about a continuous feud w/ cincinnati going back to dusty baker's pattern of plugging Cutch at least once a series, usually in the first game and high. obviously not every HBP has intent, and the pirates had a rep last season of not "protecting" their guys, which a lot of folks here believe led to the pitch in the back that put Cutch on the DL last season w/ a broken rib.

i think it's all silly and i hate it when it flairs up. Nothing good comes from it.