Madison Bumgarner And Ryan Braun Started A Nice Little Feud

Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun had a tense standoff Sunday with Giants workhorse Madison Bumgarner, after the latter threw inside and pegged the former. With this, Bumgarner loaded the bases with two outs and paid dearly.

The initial beef seemed to stem from Bumgarner’s first inside pitch. Before the pitch that actually plunked him on the elbow, Braun appeared to say, “Just throw the ball, man.” As Braun slowly made his way to first after getting hit, Bumgarner said, “If you want some, come on.” Brewers manager Craig Counsell yelled about it to home plate umpire Tom Hallion and got tossed, although it’s unclear as to whether any asses or jackpots were discussed. Brewers pitcher Wade Miley and bullpen catcher Jacob Nottingham were also tossed, somehow.

Although Braun might not have wanted some, Jonathan Schoop very much did. The second baseman crushed a pitch to left field for a go-ahead grand slam. The Brewers celebrated like Schoop had hit a walk-off homer and filed out of the dugout even though it was just the sixth inning. (They did end up winning, 6-3.) You can see first base umpire Dan Bellino shooing them away from home plate in the video:

After the game, Braun attributed the beef catalyst to a miscommunication during a previous at-bat:

“Especially when you play a day game here and it’s really hard to see anything that’s at your face…it’s just real uncomfortable,” said Braun. “I had a real long at-bat my second at-bat, flew out, took a pretty good swing.

“I jogged by him and I think maybe he thought I said something that I didn’t say. I told him good pitch, good battle something like that, and maybe he misunderstood me. I don’t know.”

Bumgarner said he was just trying to make sure he didn’t throw anything meaty for Braun, and thought Schoop’s grand slam was just the result of a “bad pitch”:

“I’m aware of the kind of hitter he is. He seems to see me pretty well. If the ball leaks out over the plate, he has a chance to do some damage.”

The Brewers and Giants don’t play again this season, but Bumgarner’s the exact type of red-ass who hold a grudge for multiple years, so keep that in mind the next time these two teams meet.

[ San Francisco Chronicle]