Tampa Bay Rays first baseman Yandy Diaz seemed to lose his cool a bit during Game 6 of the ALCS at a very bizarre time.
With a man on and a man out and the Rays trailing by 4 in the sixth, Diaz laid off on a 3-2 breaking ball from Houston pitcher Framber Valdez and drew a walk. As soon as he took the pitch, Diaz began yelling at Valdez, and players and umpires had to intervene.
It wasn’t clear what Diaz was so upset or emotional about. TBS commentator Ron Darling theorized that Diaz was frustrated to get a breaking ball on 3-2 and was taunting Valdez for not challenging him with a fastball. After the incident, Astros shortstop Carlos Correa had to come in to give Valdez an intense pep talk.
Valdez kept his composure and proceeded to get Brandon Lowe to hit into an inning-ending double play.
It was a strange moment, as there didn’t seem to be any reason for Diaz to challenge Valdez like he did. The Astros are famous for playing with a chip on their shoulder and taking every perceived slight or criticism as motivation. Diaz’s actions might end up firing up the Astros even more, which would be bad news for the Rays.
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