Once again, a Baltimore Orioles player and coach got into an argument during a game, marking the second time in just three weeks this has happened with the team this time coming in an eventual 8-4 loss to the Washington Nationals.
On Wednesday, pitcher Richard Bleier had to be separated from José David Flóres, the team's infield coach, over an argument about defense positioning.
The pitcher headed to the mound in the fifth inning with Baltimore trailing 5-2 and left the mound with the Orioles down by six runs. It all started when Bleier gave up a single to Anthony Rendon and then had Juan Soto hit a grounder right off of second base. The defense was shifted to the right, and the switch backfired, as the ball made it through the infield. It very easily could have ended up as a double play to end the inning if the infield was aligned normally.
Bleier was clearly not thrilled with that decision to shift the defense and he kind of unraveled afterwards. He gave up back-to-back RBI doubles to Asdrubal Cabrera and Kurt Suzuki to put the team at a 8-2 disadvantage.
During his exit from the mound to the dugout, Bleier had something to say to Flóres, who then had something to say back. The two had a heated exchange where it appeared Bleier said some words not allowed to be broadcasted on television. Reliever Shawn Armstrong, who is currently injured, also got in on the action and appeared to have something to say to the coach as well.
Richard Bleier and Orioles infield coach Jose Flores seemed to have some choice words for each other after Bleier was yanked when he allowed four hits and three runs while recording one out. One assumes defensive alignments were part of the conversation. pic.twitter.com/mdQLJDHaQR
— Zachary Silver (@zachsilver) August 29, 2019
After the game, Bleier discussed the incident, admitting he was upset at Flóres for the defensive decisions made and said his emotions got the best of himself:
"I think I just let frustration kind of boil over, some stuff about some balls that I thought maybe … defensive positioning, I guess. I probably could have done better for myself to keep my mouth shut, and unfortunately, I may have said something. You guys saw the rest."
The team has been dealing with internal frustrations for some time now, and earlier this month it was first baseman Chris Davis and manager Brandon Hyde who had an argument in a loss against the New York Yankees. None of this is helped by the fact that the Orioles are 44-89.
