Minnesota Twins: Miguel Sano Thrown At, Ejected After Benches Clear

The Minnesota Twins and Detroit Tigers got into a scuffle Saturday after Matthew Boyd threw behind Miguel Sano. The benches cleared after some shoving.

Minnesota Twins infielder Miguel Sano started his Saturday afternoon with a double in the first inning. It ended after being ejected from the Saturday contest. While the Minnesota Wild and St. Louis Blues battled in the neighboring city of St. Paul, the Twins and Tigers had plenty of fireworks of their own at Target Field.

The headline may have happened in the bottom of the fifth inning, but the top of the third inning is where the story starts. Reliever Justin Haley was pitching to JaCoby Jones when an errant pitch ended up hitting Jones in the face. He would leave the game after the plunking.

Baseball is a game of retaliation. If you watched the Red Sox and Yankees battle about a decade ago, you would know that. Today was no different. In the bottom of the fifth, Tigers starter Matt Boyd threw a 91-mph fastball behind Sano.

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Sano took offense and started toward the mound. In the process, catcher James McCann got in between the two and put his glove in the face of Sano. Sano then shoved McCann and was immediately ejected. While this was happening, both dugouts and bullpens found their way onto the field to exchange words.

After Sano was tossed, Boyd was sent to the showers along with him. The umpiring crew felt Boyd threw at Sano intentionally, just as Sano thought he had. Joe Mauer would pinch hit for Sano and immediately hit a double off of the center field wall and later score to tie the game. The Twins would ultimately lose 5-4.

While intentional, it could have been handled better.

While the pitch seemed to be intentional, Sano should have handled it differently. The pitch, while it could have been intentional, was throw where bodily harm was unlikely. If Boyd had intentions of harm, he would have thrown elsewhere, which would have been a more acceptable reason to be upset.

Also, Sano is one of the leading power threats for the Twins. Mauer struck out hitting in his spot to end the game. Sano may have had a better chance of tying, or winning, the game with his bat instead of the aging Mauer who is struggling mightily to start the season.

Next: Twins Success Hinges On Buxton's Glove

It has yet to be seen if Major League Baseball will further discipline Sano or Boyd, but it was a spectacle for the fans at Target Field nonetheless. There is no telling if the game would have been different if Sano stayed calm. You can hardly blame him for getting angry about a glove in the face, but as Sano matures he may see today differently down the road.

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