Cleveland Indians’ Franmil Reyes Delivers: “It’s a Big Deal if They Hit Me”



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CHICAGO – If the Indians and White Sox are about to enter the Old Testament chapter of baseball – eye for eye and tooth for tooth – Franmil Reyes has a message.

“If one of our players gets hurt, it’s personal,” Reyes said after a 6-4 loss to the White Sox on Friday night. “I don’t take (expletive) on (being hit) on purpose. I’m sorry about this.

“We’re not going to try to hit anyone on purpose. Personally, I don’t take anything (getting hit) on purpose. It’s a big deal if they hit me. It is all I have. I am sorry.”

Reyes, who hit his 20th home homer and led in three points on Friday, kind of invited himself to the post-game Zoom session to convey that message.

“That’s why I came here,” said Reyes, 6-5, 265 pounds.

The Indians and White Sox were tied 4-4 in the bottom of the eighth as the Indians started kicking and throwing the ball around the infield. Receiver Roberto Perez made a pitching error and was only charged with his second passed ball since 2018. Shortstop Amed Rosario and third baseman Jose Ramirez could have been accused of errors, but instead , Leury Garcia and Cesar Hernandez were credited with hits.

The only hit that left the infield was a right single from Tim Anderson that scored Garcia for a 5-4 lead in Chicago.

The inning overflowed with the bases loaded when right-hander James Karinchak hit Jose Abreu in the batting helmet with a 96 mph fastball to make the score 6-4. Abreu, last year’s AL MVP, fell and Perez went to see him.

Tony La Russa, the 76-year-old Chicago manager, ran out of the shelter to check on Abreu’s condition. He didn’t like that Perez was near Abreu and pushed him away. The two began to argue, which brought interim manager DeMarlo Hale onto the pitch from the Indians’ dugout canoe to get between them as the benches and paddocks emptied.

When Abreu reached first base, Reyes told him the Indians weren’t throwing him on purpose.

“I told him, ‘First of all, you know how much this team loves you,’ Reyes said. “We’re not trying to hit you there. No one would do that. A player like that who never has a bad attitude. No one would do that.

A worried Karinchak, meanwhile, crouched down on the front of the mound in dismay. He finally punched Abreu before Nick Wittgren relieved and hit the side in order.

In the first inning, Chicago right-hander Lance Lynn hit Jose Ramirez in the left elbow. At the end of the round, JC Mejia hit Abreu in the hip.

The White Sox complained after the game that the teams looked to Abreu all year round. Abreu has been shot 13 times in 97 games. He was hit three times in the 60-game sprint last year.

Perez said the Indians’ strategy all season has been to go up and up Abreu.

“This is where we present it pretty much (all the time),” Perez said. “He’s a good hitter. When he was hit you could see him on video right away, I went to see him. I even called their staff to come and see him.

“In the heat of the moment I understand Tony is trying to get his player back, but in this situation I’m not trying to hit anyone. (LaRussa) came up to me. He pushed me. He shouldn’t have pushed me in the first place. In this situation, we are not trying to hit anyone. But that’s what it is. I think they understand.

“I’m sure they thought we were trying to hit Abreu in the first set, when we hit him with a slider. We didn’t want to. It was a Mejia save slider. There was a lot going on. Much heat.

La Russa told reporters in Chicago after the game that he didn’t think the pitch that hit Abreu in the eighth inning was intentional. But he was upset that the Indians were clamoring for locations when Karinchak was wild.

“The point was the guy didn’t have the command and it’s scary to call the ball inside,” La Russa said on his post-match Zoom call. “” There was no doubt that it was not intentional. This guy was lacking in command and it was scary throwing the ball, and if you’re going to throw the ball, lower it. Just a very scary area. That’s what I said.

Anderson added, “We’re really upset. You hit our man. You’re pushing the guys off the plate the whole game, and of course we’re going to get mad at this situation. He’s one of our big guys. Of course, everyone is going to get mad.

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