Seby Zavala of the Chicago White Sox and Oneil Cruz of the Pittsburgh Pirates were involved in a benches-clearing incident during their series finale on Sunday.
On a play at the plate, Cruz awkwardly slid into Zavala and caused a lot of contact. Zavala recorded the out and Cruz was seriously injured, but Zavala wasn’t happy with what Cruz had done.
As a result, the benches cleared and players had words with each other. Zavala was very displeased with Cruz’s awkward slide and he’s fortunate that he didn’t end up with a serious injury. Cruz, however, was not so lucky.
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A hot mic captured some of the dialog in the immediate moments after the collision:
“B****! What the f*** is that?”
The mics were turned off after that, but it’s clear the White Sox catcher was irate with Cruz and let him know. This was while the star shortstop was writhing on the ground in pain. Zavala also threw his helmet after the incident.
What happened to Oneil Cruz?
The incident could not have gone much worse for Oneil Cruz. The shortstop was not only thrown out and unable to score a run, but he fractured his ankle on the slide and caused a bench-clearing incident. He also drew the ire of Zavala and the rest of the White Sox.
As of now, no timetable has been announced, but it’s likely Cruz is out for a long time. A broken ankle often takes two months or more to heal, so he could be out for a big chunk of the Pirates’ season.