What a way to start a ballgame.
Thursday night's matchup between the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs had its fair share of action only a handful of pitches into the contest, leading to an injured catcher and more than one ejection.
Mikolas is ejected from tonight's game after hitting Ian Happ. #STLCards
— Bally Sports Midwest (@BallySportsMW) July 27, 2023
TV: Bally Sports Midwest
Stream: https://t.co/PTv9vcz1Eo pic.twitter.com/q8u25FLeje
Only two batters into the game, Cubs outfielder Ian Happ caught Cardinals catcher Wilson Contreras in the head with his backswing, causing the backstop to leave the game. In the same at-bat, Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas threw high and inside on Happ before plunking him on the hip with a pitch, as is common in baseball's unwritten rules.
However, instead of the eye-for-an-eye trade being the end, umpires gathered to discuss the incident before deciding to eject Mikolas from the game. Unsurprisingly, Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol came to his pitcher's defense, also receiving a trip to the showers.
Drama to start this one. Now Marmol is tossed from the game. #STLCards
— Bally Sports Midwest (@BallySportsMW) July 28, 2023
TV: Bally Sports Midwest
Stream: Bally Sports app pic.twitter.com/4QYJVKSPWd
As for Contreras, the contact from Happ's bat, while inadvertent, drew blood. Contreras fell to the ground in pain, grabbing his head, but looked okay while being attended to by trainers before leaving the game.
Ian Happ hit Willson Contreras in the back of the head on the backswing here.
— Andy Martínez (@amartinez_11) July 27, 2023
Contreras left the game, and two pitches later, Miles Mikolas hits Happ and is ejected from the game. pic.twitter.com/7yNJivbzRT
Mikolas was obviously trying to hit Happ, though he could've done much worse damage had he intended to. And, even though the tomfoolery was probably over between both sides, umpires skipped warnings for each dugout and, instead tossed Mikolas after he'd thrown only 14 pitches.
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