Yasiel Puig ends his Cincinnati Reds career with a fight

Yasiel Puig, shortly after being traded by the Cincinnati Reds to the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday in a deal involving Trevor Bauer, was ejected after a massive brawl with the Pittsburgh Pirates

Yasiel Puig was traded to the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday, but before he learned of the trade he made his last moment in a Cincinnati Reds uniform a memorable one for the wrong reasons.

Puig was ejected in the top of the ninth inning of the Reds’ game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Great American Ball Park after getting involved in a benches-clearing brawl between the two NL Central rivals.

The inning started when Reds pitcher Jared Hughes hit Starling Marte with the first pitch, causing him and bench coach Freddie Benavides to be ejected by home plate umpire Larry Vanover (manager David Bell had already been ejected in the previous inning).

Amir Garrett came in to replace Hughes and got Josh Bell to ground out before giving up a single to Colin Moran. Jose Osuna then hit a three-run home run to right-center field, putting the Pirates up 11-3. After inducing a groundout from Kevin Newman, Garrett was visited on the mound by coach Jeff Pickler.

While Pickler was speaking to his pitcher, Garrett started exchanging words with the Pirates dugout. Both sides were yelling at each other before Garrett ran towards the dugout, dropped his glove and threw a punch at the first Pirate he came upon.

The benches cleared in a massive brawl as the umpires failed to restore order. Garrett was quickly ejected, as were Pirates players Chris Archer, Kyle Crick and Francisco Cervelli. Puig, in what proved to be his last game with the Reds, got in the middle of the brawl as well and had to be restrained. He, too, was tossed, his Reds career coming to an inglorious end.

During the game, Puig was involved in a three-team deal with the Cleveland Indians and San Diego Padres, with the 28-year-old Cuban outfielder heading to Cleveland while Indians pitcher Trevor Bauer goes the other way to Cincinnati. Puig went 0-4 in the game and is hitting .252 with 22 home runs and 61 RBI in 100 games with the Reds this season.

This is the second time in seven months that Puig has been involved in a trade. The Reds acquired him in December along with Kyle Farmer, Matt Kemp and Alex Wood from the Los Angeles Dodgers for pitcher Homer Bailey and two Minor Leaguers.

Puig may have to wait before joining the Indians, however. A suspension for his role in Tuesday’s brawl is possible, and it wouldn’t be the first time he was punished for fighting the Pirates. On April 7, after Derek Dietrich took his time to admire a home run and Archer threw behind him in his next at-bat, these same two teams had a benches-clearing scuffle. Archer was later suspended for five games, while Puig was given a two-game ban.

The Pirates won Tuesday’s game 11-4 to snap a nine-game losing streak. The Reds dropped to 49-56 on the season and are seven games behind the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Central.