Fox Sports North announcers Dick Bremer and Bert Blyleven weren’t happy about Red Sox pitcher Rick Porcello beaning Eduardo Escobar with a fastball on his first pitch of the second inning of Wednesday’s game at Target Field.
The 92 mph heater clocked Escobar in the right elbow and triceps – which he raised to avoid being hit directly in the head – and forced him to exit the game in the fourth inning.
Porcello seemed to be sending a message to the Twins after Kyle Gibson brushed back J.D. Martinez in the first inning. Twins manager Paul Molitor thought it was intentional, saying “it didn’t look particularly good to me,” according to the team’s website.
Bremer said “it didn’t pass the smell test” since Porcello was “razor sharp with his control all afternoon,” allowing just one hit over seven scoreless innings.
Blyleven was really upset, tweeting that the Twins should’ve “drilled the FIRST batter in the top of the 2nd!!!” and adding that the pitcher “HAS TO protect his everyday players!!!”
Boy how the game has changed! 👎 If I was pitching for the Twins after Escobar got drilled in his 1st AB, 😡, I would have drilled the FIRST batter in the top of the 2nd!!! A pitcher HAS TO protect his everyday players!!! Especially as hot as Escobar has been!!! Not right! https://t.co/33r8izltCT
— Bert Blyleven (@BertBlyleven28) June 21, 2018
The Twins didn’t retaliate after Escobar left the game, choosing to take the high road as they got annihilated 9-2, although they did win two of three games in the series.
Back in Blyleven’s day that situation probably would’ve ended in a brawl.
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By the way, I actually asked Blyleven a couple of years ago at TwinsFest how hard he could throw and he was confident he could get his fastball around 80 mph, which is crazy-impressive considering he was 65 years old at the time.
Rick Porcello should probably watch himself the next time the Twins meet the Red Sox.
