Angels, Mariners engage in wild brawl after tensions boil over 2 days indoors; 8 ejected

ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Angels and Mariners were engaged in a lengthy full-team brawl in the second inning on Sunday after tensions boiled over on the inside courts for two days.

Seattle manager Scott Servais, Halos interim manager Phil Nevin and six players were ejected after the brouhaha, which stopped twice and started before Angels seamstress Raisel Iglesias returned to the empty field to toss large containers of sunflower seeds and gum onto the infield.

Seattle lost three of the first four hitters in its lineup: Jesse Winker, Julio Rodriguez, and JP Crawford. Angels pitchers Iglesias, Andrew Wantz and Ryan Tepera were also pitched.

The Mariners’ beckoner was hit by the first pitch of the second inning by Angels opener Wantz, who also threw a pitch behind Rodriguez’s head in the first inning.

The first throw to Rodriguez appeared to be a response to Erik Swanson’s 95-mile fastball near Mike Trout’s head in the ninth inning on Saturday night, a throw that infuriated the three-time American League MVP. The umpires rallied after Wantz’s pitch, but only issued warnings to both shelters.

“That probably shouldn’t happen in the game what happened out there today,” said Servais. “Emotions were running high but it was pretty clear what was going on. They switched, put an opener in to throw some balls at us. Out of control from there, and kind of a black eye.”

Wantz insisted it wasn’t retaliation.

“I was pretty excited for my first start and the first one just blew away from me,” said Wantz. “It was sweaty. I was sweating. The first day’s game I attended (at the majors) and that was it. The second for Winker was a cut fastball inside and (I) just pulled it. That’s all I have to say.”

Winker responded to the punch by yelling angrily and gesturing at the Angels’ dugout, and the sides attacked each other moments later, both benches and bullpens emptying. The brawl lasted about four minutes, with people from both teams apparently dishing out multiple punches.

Injured Angels star Anthony Rendon threw an open left hand in Winker’s face during the scuffle, notable as his right hand is in a cast. The $245 million Halos third baseman is out for the second straight year for the year.

When Winker finally left the field, he made obscene gestures with both hands at the cheering Angels fans behind the Seattle dugout.

“The only thing I’m going to apologize for is turning off the fans,” Winker said. “That’s it. As fans, they’re spending their hard-earned money to watch us play and they don’t deserve that, so I apologize to the fans, especially the women and children.”

After the teams returned to their dugouts, Iglesias returned moments later to throw the sunflower seeds and gum while yelling angrily at the umpires, angry at his throw-out.

Servais and Seattle starter Marco Gonzales both felt the umpires made a mistake by not ejecting Wantz outright.

“I am not aware of last night’s incident with Trout,” crew chief Adrian Johnson told a pool reporter. “You speak of the place that went over his head. That was nothing for us to warn about today. What happened today was a guy got hit. We had warnings in there.”