The Pirates and Blue Jays were tied 2-2 in the bottom of the seventh when things got messy. The Pirates started the inning with a leadoff double, followed by a clean sacrifice bunt from Isiah Kiner-Falefa to move the go-ahead run to third. Blue Jays manager got ejected during the chaos, likely over the strike zone. Then a wild pitch brought in the go-ahead run, giving Pittsburgh a 3-2 lead. Things got worse for Toronto after they walked the next batter and then threw away a pickoff attempt, allowing another runner to move up.
Then came the dust-up between Tommy Pham and Blue Jays catcher Tyler Heineman. Pham didn’t like Heineman questioning a low-and-away pitch and saw it as disrespectful. He barked, flipped his bat, and stared down Heineman, who didn’t seem to understand what set Pham off. Tensions rose, players came in to separate them, and Pham started calling out Heineman’s lack of service time. Heineman said after the game he was just as confused as everyone else, claiming he barely knew who Pham was. Pham later issued a direct response, explaining he thought the act of challenging a clear ball was insulting to the ump and the hitter. He stood by his actions, saying he plays by a code and expects others to do the same.
Turns out, Pham does stick to that code. A review of past clips showed that when called strikes are close, he rarely argues if he knows they caught the zone. He knows the strike zone and usually takes the call without argument. So in his mind, if a catcher complains about a call that was clearly a ball, that’s a violation of the way the game should be played.