Philadelphia Phillies stars Nick Castellanos and Bryce Harper didn’t hold back in their criticism of Tampa Bay Rays reliever Edwin Uceta after a benches-clearing incident during the eighth inning of the Phillies’ 9-4 win at Citizens Bank Park on Tuesday night.
Uceta, who entered the game with one out and two runners on, quickly unraveled. He gave up a two-run double, an RBI single, and a two-run home run before Harper hit a double off him. Frustrations seemed to mount for the Rays pitcher, and on the very next at-bat, Uceta hit Castellanos in the back with a 96-MPH sinker on the first pitch.
Castellanos immediately reacted, throwing his hands up in frustration and shouting at Uceta. The tension escalated when Harper, who had advanced to second base, started walking toward the mound to confront Uceta, only to be stopped by two Rays players.
This led to both benches clearing in a heated standoff, though no further altercations took place.
After the game, Castellanos told reporters that he had a feeling Uceta was going to hit him, sensing the reliever’s frustration on the mound after surrendering several runs.
“I could see it coming,” Castellanos said. “You could tell he was getting frustrated. I thought to myself, ‘I’ll take this pitch and see if he’s around the plate.’ And then, boom—it wasn’t anywhere near me.”
Castellanos expressed that he and his teammates could all sense Uceta’s growing frustration, especially given how quickly his performance on the mound deteriorated.
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“We all got a sense that he was mad because his ERA shot through the roof,” Castellanos explained, referencing Uceta’s stats. The Rays reliever entered the game with an impressive 0.75 ERA, but after giving up three earned runs, that number spiked to 1.49.
Castellanos went a step further in his criticism, comparing Uceta’s actions to the behavior of his two-year-old son.
“When you’re throwing a baseball over 90 miles an hour and you’re frustrated, and you decide to hit somebody? It’s like my 2-year-old throwing a fit because I took away his dessert before he was done,” Castellanos said, adding a stinging rebuke of Uceta’s lack of control and emotional outburst.
Harper, equally upset by the incident, echoed Castellanos’ concerns. He was adamant that Uceta’s actions were intentional and did not align with the integrity of the game.
“He hit him on purpose,” Harper said bluntly. “That’s not the game we play. Guys throw too hard nowadays to be doing that. Just because you give up a homer, blow the lead, or walk someone, doesn’t mean you can go and hit the next guy. That’s not baseball.”
Harper emphasized how Uceta’s behavior not only angered him but crossed a line in terms of sportsmanship and safety.
“The whole situation really fired me up and upset me,” Harper continued. “It’s not something we should accept in Major League Baseball. There’s no place for it.”
The incident has added an extra layer of intensity to the Phillies-Rays series, with the final game of the three-game set scheduled for Wednesday at 6:40 p.m. ET.
Both teams will look to move past the altercation, but given the heightened emotions, the possibility of further tensions remains.
