Watch: Wild start to Cardinals-Cubs game results in a bleeding catcher and several ejections
What a way to start a ballgame.
Thursday night's matchup between the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs had its fair share of action only a handful of pitches into the contest, leading to an injured catcher and more than one ejection.
Only two batters into the game, Cubs outfielder Ian Happ caught Cardinals catcher Wilson Contreras in the head with his backswing, causing the backstop to leave the game. In the same at-bat, Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas threw high and inside on Happ before plunking him on the hip with a pitch, as is common in baseball's unwritten rules.
However, instead of the eye-for-an-eye trade being the end, umpires gathered to discuss the incident before deciding to eject Mikolas from the game. Unsurprisingly, Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol came to his pitcher's defense, also receiving a trip to the showers.
As for Contreras, the contact from Happ's bat, while inadvertent, drew blood. Contreras fell to the ground in pain, grabbing his head, but looked okay while being attended to by trainers before leaving the game.
Mikolas was obviously trying to hit Happ, though he could've done much worse damage had he intended to. And, even though the tomfoolery was probably over between both sides, umpires skipped warnings for each dugout and, instead tossed Mikolas after he'd thrown only 14 pitches.
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