Phillies-Rockies fight explained by Bryce Harper, Jake Bird and more

DENVER — Mother’s 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 Colorado’s 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, here’s what was said from both sides of the fracas.

Colorado Rockies: Viewpoints after tussle with Philadelphia Phillies

Colorado manager Bud Black: “As you guys know, Jake is an emotional pitcher. You’ve seen it before. This isn’t the first time that he’s shown emotion after an out, strikeout or double play ball, and today was no different. He pitches with emotion. That’s who he is, and there are a lot of professional athletes who do that. Jake’s one of them. I think today the Phillies took exception to maybe a little too much emotion from Jake.

“I’m 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.”

Colorado reliever Jake Bird: “You 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.

“That’s the first time in my life I’ve ever been a part of that, and it was not ideal.

“After 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.

“He (Harper) is a great player and he plays with emotion. I love that he plays with emotion. He’s 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.”

Colorado catcher Elias Diaz, who stepped between Harper and his Rockies teammates: “I think he (Harper) felt disrespected. I was just trying to protect my pitcher and tried to say, ‘Hey Harper, calm down.’ It’s baseball. It happens. There was a lot of emotion.

“I was just trying to protect my teammate and tell everybody to calm down.”

What the Philadelphia Phillies said about Sunday’s fight

Philadelphia designated hitter Bryce Harper: “I 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, that’s when I got a problem with it. You guys saw my reaction. I wasn’t very happy. He did what he did and, after that, he kind of flew away and went into in the dugout.

“He gestured like that, like ‘Come on’ kind of thing, but that was about it. I didn’t 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.

“I 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 don’t agree with that. And that’s how I react when people come after my team or anything else.

“When you make it about yourself and the other team, it’s 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 that’s when some people get upset.”

Philadelphia manager Rob Thomson: “It’s a little bit unsettling, understanding Harper’s elbow (after Tommy John surgery). That’s one thing. You never want to see your star players get thrown out of the game, but he’s protecting his teammates. That’s what this group does. They protect each other. They fight for each other. I’m proud of him for it. He’s an emotional guy and he was sticking up for his teammates.”