Julio Teheran plunked Jose Bautista in first at-bat after contentious bat flip
The Atlanta Braves and Toronto Blue Jays picked up where they left off on Thursday, following a benches-clearing incident the night before.
Braves pitcher Julio Teheran drilled Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista during his first at-bat of the night, hitting him in the thigh with a 96 mph fastball.
https://twitter.com/TheRenderMLB/status/865358170318934018
It was the ninth time a player has been hit in the series and comes on the heels of a Bautista bat-flip the night before that led to both sides clearing the benches.
Tensions were high throughout Atlanta’s 8-4 win on Wednesday. There was the fifth-inning pitch that hit Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman on the left wrist (and could sideline him for 10 weeks), then a seventh-inning shouting match between Kevin Pillar and Jason Motte also emptied the benches and led to a two-game suspension for Pillar after he admitted shouting a homophobic slur at Motte.
But Thursday night didn't escalate after the first-inning beaning of Bautista. He took his base and later scored the first run of the game. The Blue Jays went on to batter Teheran and cruise to a 9-0 win, their first in their four interleague games against the Braves this season.
