David Bote put up a monster performance, smashing two home runs and driving in five runs. His first homer came on a 3-1 pitch in the first inning, launched deep into the seats. He followed that with a laser shot in the fifth. Then things got weird. Bote got drilled by a two-seamer and wasn’t happy. He flipped his bat, exchanged words, and for a moment it looked like tensions might boil over. Catcher John Ryan Murphy seemed to apologize right away, and Bote cooled down quickly. But the benches decided to clear anyway.
Despite the brief dust-up, no one got tossed. The umpire gave out warnings after Murphy appeared to chase Bote following his reaction. The pitcher and hitter were fine with each other, shaking it off. But teammates on both sides stirred things up until bullpens emptied and everyone stood around posturing. One manager thought his players got ejected but later admitted he was just confused by the warnings. In the end, the most notable part of the whole mess was that Bote stayed locked in. Even with the hit-by-pitch and chaos, he didn’t let it take away from a huge day at the plate.