Two superstars paid the price for Blue Jays-Guardians temper tantrum

If you look up mutually assured destruction in the dictionary, you'll find a picture of Thursday afternoon's game between the Toronto Blue Jays and Cleveland Guardians.

The foundation for a fracas was laid on Wednesday night, when Jays star first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was none too happy after being plunked by Cleveland starter Gavin Williams. (The fact that the Guardians eventually walked off the Blue Jays in 10 innings certainly didn't help matters.) And he was really upset after having to leave the game thanks to another beanball from righty Tanner Bibee on Thursday.

Guerrero Jr. is Toronto's heart and soul, the face of the franchise and the guy who needs to be protected at all costs. So Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman figured he'd return the favor to Cleveland in the very next half-inning, drilling Jose Ramirez in the ribs with his very first pitch.

Ramirez, too, was forced to leave the game. Rather than eject Gausman for a pitch that pretty clearly seemed intentional, the umpires decided to simply warn both dugouts that any further extracurriculars would be cracked down on. And that left Guardians manager Stephen Vogt looking for somebody to scream at.

Luckily, it appears that both teams avoided the worst: Guerrero Jr. and Ramirez have both been diagnosed with bruised forearms, and we can only hope that the star sluggers will be OK. If not, Cleveland is going to be hopping mad, and they probably have a right to be.

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Blue Jays, Guardians put playoff chances at risk with inane beanball war

You can certainly understand why Vladdy would've been upset here, given the circumstances. He'd already been plunked five times this season entering Thursday, and now he's on pace for a new career high in that unfortunate category. Especially considering that he got hit on consecutive nights, it's only fair to want to let off some steam.

At the same time, though, there's zero reason to think that either HBP was intentional from Cleveland's point of view. Thursday, in particular, came on a 2-2 count with one out and a runner on second in the third inning, with Bibee desperate to keep the Guardians' deficit to 3-0. That is ... more or less exactly the opposite of when you'd want to throw at someone on purpose, and it's not like there's a history of bad blood here to arouse suspicion.

Gausman, on the other hand, couldn't have been clearer about his intent: He wanted to hit Cleveland's best player, and while pitchers will usually try to target the thigh/rear area, Gausman's fastball ran high and caught Ramirez in the ribs — risking a fracture or similar injury that could cost an MVP candidate extended time in the midst of a postseason race.

Baseball's code is what it is, and many players and coaches still subscribe to it. Intentional or not, if your best player gets hit multiple times, then someone has to pay. But that's retrograde thinking, to put it kindly; Cleveland wasn't any happier about Vladdy getting hit than Toronto was. And now a second star has been unnecessarily put in harm's way.