Astros third baseman Alex Bregman hands his bat to first base coach Don Kelly after hitting a first-inning home run against the Washington Nationals during Game 6 of the World Series on Tuesday night in Houston. AP Photo/Eric Gay
HOUSTON — Alex Bregman knocked a home run into the Crawford Boxes in the first inning of Game 6 of the World Series on Tuesday night to put Houston on top.
Then he carried his bat with him all the way to first base.
After the Washington Nationals rallied for a 7-2 win to force a Game 7, the star third baseman spent most of his postgame interview apologizing for the move .
“I just let my emotions get the best of me and I’m sorry for doing that,” he said.
Adam Eaton hit a solo homer off Justin Verlander with one out in the fifth to tie it before Juan Soto launched a pitch into the second deck to give the Nationals the lead. Then the 21-year-old phenom mimicked Bregman by taking his bat with him before throwing it down at first base, just as Bregman had done four innings earlier.
What did Bregman think about that?
“I deserved it,” he said. “It was my fault and I apologize for doing it. I shouldn’t have done it.”
Manager AJ Hinch weighed in on the bat-carrying antics of both players.
“He shouldn’t carry the bat past first base,” Hinch said. “Soto shouldn’t carry it to first base, either.”
Though not a hit with Hinch, many fans and others on social media enjoyed the unconventional celebration and lauded Bregman for having fun.
Despite that, Bregman lamented getting caught up in the moment and wanted everyone to know that he regretted what he’d done.
“It’s not what I’m about,” he said. “I want to play team baseball and try and help this team win. And I just got too excited, and I apologize to their team, my teammates, everybody and I just want to come out and try to help this team win (Game 7).”
MLB EXECUTIVE Joe Torre says the “right call” was made and that a protest was denied after Nationals leadoff hitter Trea Turner was called out for interference during Washington’s Game 6 victory.
Nationals Manager Dave Martinez was ejected for arguing plate umpire Sam Holbrook’s ruling in the seventh inning, and Torre said Washington’s request to protest the game was denied because it was a judgment call.
Holbrook’s signal came after Turner hit a slow roller down the third-base line with a runner at first and ran narrowly inside fair territory.
Pitcher Brad Peacock fielded the ball, and his throw pulled first baseman Yuli Gurriel toward the baseline. As Gurriel stretched, Turner ran into his glove, and the ball bounced off Turner’s leg and into foul territory. Turner ended up at second, with lead runner Yan Gomes going to third – except Holbrook quickly signaled for interference.
Turner was called out and Gomes sent back to first base. After some argument from Martinez and the Nationals, umpires went to the headsets for 4 1/2 minutes before upholding the call. The overall delay stretched over 10 minutes.
“I mean what else do you do? I don’t know. The batter’s box is in fair territory. First base is in fair territory. I swung, I ran a straight line, I get hit with the ball, I’m out,” Turner said. “I don’t understand it. I can understand it if I veered one way or the other. I didn’t.”
The Nationals wanted to pursue a protest, and Turner was heard on television pointing to Torre, MLB’s chief baseball officer, in the stands and shouting “He’s right there!” and “Just ask him!”
“The call was the fact that he interfered with Gurriel trying to catch the ball,” Torre said, adding that Holbrook “made the right call at first base.”
Torre said that while MLB and its umpires want to “double and triple-check ourselves” in the World Series, the delay shouldn’t have lasted as long as it did.
“I don’t know if it was the noise or whatever it was. I know we had a hard line in our box and we had trouble reaching people because we tried to make some calls, we couldn’t do it,” Torre said. “It should never be that long. That’s unfortunate. And certainly we have to take ownership of that.”
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