Benches clear in Twins-Indians after Sergio Romo confronts Francisco Lindor

A benches-clearing incident made headlines after Twins-Indians

Francisco Lindor and Sergio Romo aren’t ones to roll over, which explains their confrontation near first base on Friday night. The two competitors were barking back and forth down the first-base line, with Lindor doing most of the talking after Romo motioned towards him on what would become a sure out. Romo having bested Lindor in one at-bat turned into bragging rights, and the Cleveland star didn’t take kindly to having that shoved in his face. It’s tough to blame him.

After the game, Rocco Baldelli emphatically stated that any sort of conflict is not the goal during today’s game, especially with COVID-19 protocol firmly in place. It’s smart to keep distance whenever possible, and an incident like that which occurred on Friday night directly impacts MLB’s initiative in a negative way.

The Lindor-Romo beef is hopefully a standalone event

While both players are fiery, neither has a history of creating conflict where there isn’t any.

“It’s a situation that’s been brewing for a while,” acting Cleveland manager Sandy Alomar Jr. said. “Romo likes to dish it, our guys were dishing it back. The whole thing about this situation (is) Romo has been animated his whole career and (he has) been in the National League. We don’t know much about him. But that’s the way he is, and if he’s going to dish it, we’ll dish it back. You have to take it, that’s the bottom line. His little words there …”

A back-and-forth plunking battle isn’t beneficial to either team right now, especially in the middle of a pennant race. A Baldelli expressed postgame, both teams would prefer if this is the end of said conflict. For now, though, it makes for entertaining television.