Angels' Zach Neto Calls Out Astros Pitcher, Who Fires Right Back at Him

Benches were cleared on Friday after Houston Astros starting pitcher Hunter Brown hit Los Angeles Angels shortstop Zach Neto with a pitch in the bottom of the third inning.

Whether it was intentional or not, Neto was clearly frustrated with Brown, as the right-hander also hit Neto with a pitch last season.

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Neto put two fingers up to indicate this was his second hit-by-pitch situation with Brown while heading toward the mound to confront him.

“You go back to the history we have – it’s not the first time he’s done it – and for him to go up and in like that again, enough’s enough,” Neto said to The Orange County Register. “It doesn’t feel great getting hit there, especially by a guy like that who’s dealing, who throws hard. I know he’s not trying to hit me, but it’s definitely frustrating getting hit.”

Brown had his own explanation for hitting Neto with a pitch. The Astros starter, who gave up two hits and one run across five innings, said Neto was at fault for standing on top of the plate.

“Honestly, he almost swung, so I don’t know what he’s talking about,” Brown said. “The guy stands right on top of the plate. If he doesn’t like when he gets hit, that’s his problem.”

“I’ve got to command the inside part of the plate, that’s part of my game,” Brown added. ‘If you want to stand with your toes on the chalk, you can’t really get that upset when I’m throwing a pitch that you’re almost swinging at. So I stand by what I do.”

Neither player was ejected from the game, and there were no more bench-clearing incidents for the rest of the night. 

However, Houston would go on to hit two more Los Angeles batters with different pitchers. Right-handed relief pitcher Shawn Dubin hit designated hitter Mike Trout in the bottom of the sixth then reliever Bryan Abreu hit third baseman Luis Rengifo in the bottom of the eighth.

Just the night before, the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres had a similar hit-by-pitch incident, going back-and-forth hitting All-Star outfielder Fernando Tatis Jr. and reigning National League Most Valuable Player Shohei Ohtani.

Tatis Jr. was hit by a pitch in the top of the ninth, then Padres’ reliever Robert Suarez responded by hitting Ohtani with a pitch in the bottom of the ninth. 

Suarez received a three-game suspension, while Dodgers manager Dave Roberts and Padres manager Mike Shildt received one-game suspensions.

The Angels did not respond in that manner to the three hit-by-pitch incidents. But Neto and Brown are 24 and 26 years old, so it seems this may be just the start to a long-standing rivalry.

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