Benches clear in Toronto after ‘miscommunication’

TORONTO — What appeared to have the trappings of a bench-clearing confrontation boiled down to a simple misunderstanding between Steven Souza Jr. and Russell Martin.

Cooler heads prevailed and all was fine between the Rays’ outfielder and the Blue Jays’ catcher.

Souza made the last out of the Blue Jays’ 3-2 win over the Rays Monday night on a ball that at first appeared to be a two-run, go-ahead homer. Instead, it turned out to be a flyout that disappeared in the glove of Blue Jays center fielder Kevin Pillar.

After the catch was made, Souza turned back toward home and thought he heard questioning remarks from Martin, while Martin wondered out loud about what Souza was barking about. In the midst of all this, shortstop Troy Tulowitzki arrived to the scene to offer his thoughts and both benches emptied before everybody realized the episode had been caused by a simple misunderstanding.

“I hit the ball good,” Souza said. “I thought I got it, and I may have walked a little too much. And I thought Russ was saying something about it, which would have been on me, totally. …

continue reading in source mlb.mlb.com