DENVER — Rafael Devers paused to admire his home run as it soared into the second deck in the first inning Tuesday night. More than 10 minutes later, in a bizarre and wild scene at Coors Field, Devers finished his trot around the bases and crossed the plate.
Here’s what happened in between: a benches-clearing incident between the San Francisco Giants and Colorado Rockies that involved more shoving than punching that ended in three ejections and brought a little spice to the penultimate game in the season series between the NL West adversaries.
It began when Devers, the second batter of the game, hit a two-run home run and milked the moment a bit too long in the estimation of Rockies left-hander Kyle Freeland, who walked off the mound and started a shouting match across the infield. Devers was vociferous in reply. There was never a threat that Freeland would go after Devers — home plate umpire Phil Cuzzi had both hands on the pitcher’s jersey — but benches emptied and tempers escalated anyway.
Giants No. 3 hitter Willy Adames, who was in the on-deck circle, was the first player to reach Freeland. Matt Chapman, who was due up fourth, shoved Freeland from the side.
Then both teams met in a mosh pit on the infield. A second fracas broke out when Adames went after Freeland and had to be restrained by Giants bench coach Ryan Christenson.
Once order was restored, the umpire crew huddled for several minutes before announcing that Freeland, Adames and Chapman had all been ejected. Devers, who stood on first base the entire time umpires were conferring, was given the signal to complete his home run trot in front of a booing crowd.
Giants manager Bob Melvin, suddenly deprived of his starting shortstop and third baseman, had to play lineup Tetris. Casey Schmitt and Dom Smith were sent up to pinch hit; in the bottom of the first inning, Devers moved from first base to make his Giants debut as a third baseman — a position he hadn’t played all season. Smith replaced Devers at first base, Schmitt went to second base, and starting second baseman Christian Koss shifted to shortstop.
Putting Schmitt in the field was less than ideal for the Giants. The infielder was hit on the right elbow by a pitch the previous night and hadn’t done any throwing in pregame drills. For the Rockies, right-hander Antonio Senzatela replaced Freeland on the mound.
Before the game, Devers had been named co-NL Player of the Week after hitting .478 with two doubles, three home runs and 10 RBIs over a six-game span. The Rockies (39-99) took the field hoping to avoid their 100th loss of the season.
(Photo: David Zalubowski / Associated Press)