Benches clear in Giants game after Wilmer Flores exchanges words with Marlins originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
With the Giants on the verge of being swept by the Miami Marlins on Thursday at Oracle Park, an already tense series finally hit a breaking point in the bottom of the seventh inning.
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San Francisco first baseman Wilmer Flores, who normally is easygoing but hasn’t recorded a hit in four games, contributed to his eventual 0-for-5 day with a check-swing strikeout. After he took issue with the call and said something to first base umpire Carlos Torres, Flores then exchanged words with the Marlins’ dugout and had to be held back by home plate umpire Alfonso Márquez before the benches cleared.
It has been a frustrating series for the Giants, and one that has seen its fair share of drama. After the Marlins hit three Giants batters in Wednesday’s game, Thursday’s starting pitcher Hayden Birdsong plunked Miami’s Otto Lopez in the first inning and forced Márquez to issue a warning to both teams. Marlins manager Clayton McCullough was ejected for arguing the decision.
All the chaos still led to another loss for the Giants, who were swept by the Marlins in a 12-5 defeat despite a pair of valiant comebacks in the last two games of the series. Flores made the final out of the game after popping out to Marlins catcher Nick Fortes.
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All San Francisco fans can do is hope the fire from Thursday boils over into the Giants’ next series against the White Sox in Chicago.
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