San Francisco Giants ace Madison Bumgarner has certainly had his fair share of run-ins with the Los Angeles Dodgers over recent seasons. The latest incident occurred in the first inning of Sunday’s three-game finale between the two teams at Oracle Park.
A mere two batters into the contest, Max Muncy produced the Dodgers’ only run of the day with a majestic 426-foot blast into McCovey Cove. Bumgarner immediately took exception with the 28-year-old after he dropped his bat and admired what was his 13th home run of the season.
The two exchanged words with each other, but nothing more escalated from that point on. Muncy faced Bumgarner two more times in the game and was not hit by a pitch or even brushed back, finishing the day with a 2-for-3 showing at the plate.
After the contest, Muncy downplayed the scuffle and went into detail what was said during his trot around the bases. He quickly shouted back at Bumgarner and told him to fetch the ball out of the water.
Muncy additionally made it clear that he hopes the situation is diffused and that it doesn’t accelerate into Yasiel Puig-type tensions going forward, via SportsNet LA:
“He kept mouthing off, I told him come get it. He’s a competitor, he was just fired up about it. I definitely hope this doesn’t turn into a Puig thing, because I don’t want that on my shoulders. It’s just him competing out there, he was upset he made a bad pitch, and that’s all there was to it.”
Bumgarner’s previous issues with the Dodgers were almost entirely linked to Yasiel Puig, who often got under the left-hander’s skin during his time in Los Angeles. Over the years, the two have been involved in three separate confrontations.
The bad blood between Puig and Bumgarner came to a head in a September 2016 matchup at Dodger Stadium. After grounding out to end the inning, the southpaw took offense to Puig simply looking his way, leading both clubs’ benches and bullpens emptying onto the field.
In the wake of his latest incident with Muncy, Bumgarner noted that he wants to be permitted to play his style, just as the league is encouraging other players to do so.
