BALTIMORE -- Was Gunnar Henderson intentionally hit by a pitch on Saturday evening?
That was the question that surrounded the ninth inning of the Padres’ 9-3 win over the Orioles at Camden Yards -- as well as the postgame media sessions for both teams -- after things got a bit heated when the contest was down to its final out. At that point, Henderson got plunked by right-hander Ron Marinaccio, who was ejected after a meeting of the umpiring crew on the infield grass.
Once Marinaccio was tossed, San Diego manager Craig Stammen came out of the third-base dugout heated and had a lengthy discussion before getting ejected himself by second-base umpire Chris Conroy.
Some on the O’s side believed it was an act of retaliation. In the fifth, Padres shortstop Xander Bogaerts was hit in the head by a 93.5 mph sinker on the 93rd (and final) pitch of the day from rookie right-hander Trey Gibson, who was clearly struggling with command at the time. Bogaerts exited an inning later with “a little spasm back here in the neck,” per Stammen.
Henderson thought he was hit on purpose because the first two pitches he saw from righty Bradgley Rodriguez in the seventh were well inside, forcing him to have to dodge out of the way.
“They had their two opportunities in my previous at-bat and missed, so I thought that should have been the end of it,” Henderson said. “We hit somebody of theirs, and obviously weren’t trying to, but it is what it is. You had your opportunity to get it back, and they did and missed. So that should have been it.”
Both Marinaccio and Stammen said it wasn’t intentional, but rather a strategy of pitching inside to Henderson -- who hit his 100th career home run in Baltimore’s series-opening 7-3 win on Friday -- with a few offerings getting away from their hurlers a bit in the process.
“He's a great hitter. You’ve got to make hitters like that uncomfortable at times, and I pulled a fastball a little bit too much there,” Marinaccio said. “I could understand the visual, a couple guys pitching inside earlier, but there were no warnings.”
“We need to pitch [Henderson] inside. If he gets extended, he's going to do what he did yesterday,” Stammen added. “That's part of pitching, is to be able to pitch inside. Pitch between the plate and the body, and it hit him. I don't know why they tossed [Marinaccio]. I guess maybe because Bogaerts got hit. But it's frustrating that they would make a decision that quick."
Orioles manager Craig Albernaz came out onto the field to make sure Henderson was OK after getting hit in the hip by a 93.9 mph fastball. The 24-year-old was fine, as he walked down to first base and stayed in for the rest of the game.
Albernaz didn’t say if he thought it was intentional, but he believed it was handled fine.
“Trey hit Bogaerts in the head and their dugout didn’t like it at all. Obviously, it definitely wasn’t intentional. It was a two-seam that slipped out of his hand,” Albernaz said. “I get there why they’re mad; the ball hit him in the head and he had to come out of the game. I’m not saying the ball to Gunnar was on purpose, but it was done the right way.
“And that’s why there was no gripes from us, and Gunnar was fine with it and just took it to first base.”
Stammen, on the other hand, was heated. He didn’t like that Marinaccio was ejected and that he had to bring in left-hander Adrian Morejon to record the final out -- which the southpaw did successfully, getting Pete Alonso to ground out to end it.
“They definitely thought he did it on purpose. That was not my understanding or my take from it. Ultimately, that's why I went out and argued,” Stammen said. “Just didn't think it was warranted. It would've been fine if they just warned everybody. We'd have been fine and moved on from there."
Sometimes, these types of situations can spill over into the next day. The Padres and Orioles are set to play the rubber game of the three-game series on Sunday afternoon, with right-hander Walker Buehler and left-hander Trevor Rogers facing off in the matchup.
Is this now over? We’ll have to wait and see. But it was clear that Henderson believed there was intent behind the incident, though those on the Padres said that wasn’t the case.
“I guess they were trying to get payback,” Henderson said, “so I guess we're even now.”