DENVER ā Motherās Day got a little testy between the Colorado Rockies and Philadelphia Phillies at Coors Field on Sunday.
Philadelphia All-Star Bryce Harper and Colorado reliever Jake Bird were in the middle of a seventh-inning skirmish between the two squads during Coloradoās 4-0 victory.
After Bird retired Bryson Stott on a fly ball to end the inning, the right-hander showed some extra emotion getting the last out. Harper and the Phillies took exception, starting a war of words and benches clearing.
After the game, hereās what was said from both sides of the fracas.
Colorado Rockies: Viewpoints after tussle with Philadelphia Phillies
Colorado manager Bud Black: āAs you guys know, Jake is an emotional pitcher. Youāve seen it before. This isnāt the first time that heās shown emotion after an out, strikeout or double play ball, and today was no different. He pitches with emotion. Thatās who he is, and there are a lot of professional athletes who do that. Jakeās one of them. I think today the Phillies took exception to maybe a little too much emotion from Jake.
āIām good with him being who he is. Today, for him and for us in that moment, a big moment in the game. He let it out.ā
Colorado reliever Jake Bird:Ā āYou guys have seen the past few weeks I get a little emotional on the mound sometimes. (Philadelphia) is a good team and it was a big moment and I got a little emotional out there. Probably a little too emotional.
āThatās the first time in my life Iāve ever been a part of that, and it was not ideal.
āAfter I had my little celebration thing real quick and pop out, I thought it was a normal walk back to the dugout then I saw him (Harper) coming out.
āHe (Harper) is a great player and he plays with emotion. I love that he plays with emotion. Heās a player I look up to. Obviously, in the future, I hope I get to compete against him in the future and go head to head.ā
Colorado catcher Elias Diaz, who stepped between Harper and his Rockies teammates: āI think he (Harper) felt disrespected. I was just trying to protect my pitcher and tried to say, āHey Harper, calm down.ā Itās baseball. It happens. There was a lot of emotion.
āI was just trying to protect my teammate and tell everybody to calm down.ā
What the Philadelphia Phillies said about Sundayās fight
Philadelphia designated hitter Bryce Harper: āI get emotion. I understand getting fired up for an inning and stuff like that. But once you make it about a team or make it about yourself and the other team, thatās when I got a problem with it. You guys saw my reaction. I wasnāt very happy. He did what he did and, after that, he kind of flew away and went into in the dugout.
āHe gestured like that, like āCome onā kind of thing, but that was about it. I didnāt really see anything else. At that point, I went out there just to go and J.T. (Realmuto) was right behind me and Taijuan (Walker) the same thing. I appreciate my teammates for coming out with me and doing that. Heat of the moment, that kind of thing. So once we kind of got out there, he kind of flew into the dugout and just went away and nobody really saw him after he did what he did.
āI never want to put myself in the danger of getting hurt or anything like that. But, like I said, when anybody does anything to my teammates or anything like that, I just donāt agree with that. And thatās how I react when people come after my team or anything else.
āWhen you make it about yourself and the other team, itās like pimping homers or anything like that. You get excited and you flash it to another team, teams get mad, right? I mean, you hit a home run and you flip your bat and you look at the other team, some guys get mad and thatās when some people get upset.ā
Philadelphia manager Rob Thomson: āItās a little bit unsettling, understanding Harperās elbow (after Tommy John surgery). Thatās one thing. You never want to see your star players get thrown out of the game, but heās protecting his teammates. Thatās what this group does. They protect each other. They fight for each other. Iām proud of him for it. Heās an emotional guy and he was sticking up for his teammates.ā