The “unwritten rules” of baseball were violated, according to veteran pitcher Madison Bumgarner.
The 32-year-old did not take kindly to Nationals outfielder Victor Robles admiring a solo home run that cut his team’s deficit to 7-2 in the eighth inning on Saturday.
“Guy’s a clown,” Bumgarner said after the game. “Golly, no shame. No shame. Like, it’s 7-1, you hit your third homer of the year, and you act like Barry Bonds breaking the record.
“Clean it up. I don’t care about giving up the run. Hell, we won 7-2, 8-2, whatever it was. It’s frustrating. I’m the old grumpy guy, I know, but that type of stuff, that didn’t use to happen. That’s ridiculous.”
Bumgarner has been in the major leagues since 2009 and is a multiple-time World Series champion. Robles has been in and out of the big leagues for most of his career as a highly touted prospect.
“It seems like he calls everybody a clown that has a big hit or a home run against him,” Robles said through an interpreter. “If he doesn’t want anybody hitting a home run against him or having any issues with that, then keep striking people out or making better pitches to where he doesn’t have to worry about that.”
After hitting a solo home run off Bumgarner in the eighth inning, Robles slowly watched the ball sail over the fence. By the time had reached the stands, Robles was not even two steps out of the batter’s box.
Bumgarner has had plenty of these feuds in his career, notably with Max Muncy and Yasiel Puig. Muncy admired a home run against Bumgarner during his time with the Giants a bit too long, leading to Muncy telling Bumgarner, “Get my homer out of the ocean.”