


Tempers flared between the Astros and Rangers on Wednesday night.
The Rangers’ Adolis Garcia hit a grand slam onto the train tracks at Minute Maid Park in Texas’ 13-5 win, prompting both benches to clear.
It appeared that Houston catcher Martín Maldonado took exception to something after Garcia’s dinger that caused the emotions to reach a boiling point.
No punches were thrown, and Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez did step in to try and play peacemaker before players from both benches and bullpens ran onto the field.
Garcia didn’t appear to do anything too out of the ordinary on the roundtripper, though the 30-year-old did seem to take an extra second to admire the blast, but nothing that seemed to be egregious.
Things started to get heated earlier in the game after Astros starter Framber Valdez hit Rangers second baseman Marcus Semien in the third inning — after Alvarez was plunked in the first frame — causing the umpires to warn both teams.
In the fourth, Semien hit a home run and appeared to say something to Valdez while rounding the bases, according to the Houston Chronicle.
The fifth-inning blast from Garcia was his third grand slam of the year, which tied the Astros’ Alex Bergman and the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Max Muncy for most this season.
It was also the fourth grand slam of Garcia’s career.
Garcia, a 2023 All-Star, now has 25 long balls with an .846 OPS this season.
The incident came during the final game of a three-game series between two of the American League West’s top two teams.
The Astros had taken the first two games of the series, but the Rangers held them off to hold a two-game edge in the division.