Phillies vs. Rays: Benches cleared between Philadelphia and Tampa Bay after Nick Castellanos was hit by pitch

CNN
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The Philadelphia Phillies' 9-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays ended in chaos on Tuesday night after reliever Edwin Uceta hit Nick Castellanos with a 96 mph fastball.

With the game tied at the end of the eighth inning, Uceta allowed five runs before apparently taking out his frustration on the Phillies' right fielder.

“[I had] “I had an overwhelming feeling that I was about to get taken down,” Castellanos said after the game, according to MLB.com. “I just told him that was bullshit. I mean, you throw a baseball at over 90 miles an hour. You're frustrated and you want to throw it at somebody?

“It's like my two-year-old throwing a tantrum because I took away his dessert before he finishes it.”

Castellanos was led away from Uceta by home plate umpire John Libka, but he was far from the only one upset about the pitch. Both benches cleared, and Phillies star Bryce Harper in particular headed straight for the mound.

Tensions eventually subsided without any serious physical altercations occurring, but despite Uceta's sending off, Harper was far from satisfied after the game.

“I mean, that's not the game we're playing, man,” Harper said afterward, according to MLB.com. “It shouldn't be. Guys throw too hard these days. You get mad because a guy hits a home run against you or you blow the lead and let the guy walk and get out of the game.”

“The situation really made me angry. It made me upset. This is not something that should be accepted in Major League Baseball.”

Harper himself had to leave the game against the Toronto Blue Jays in Canada last week after being hit in the left elbow by a pitch from Bowden Francis in the first inning.

“I wasn't trying to do it on purpose,” Uceta said through a team interpreter after Tuesday's game, according to MLB.com.

“It was busy, so I just kept an eye on Castellanos. Again, I didn't do it on purpose, but I understand how frustrated they were. I've never been in a situation like that.”

Rays manager Kevin Cash, however, admitted that the game seemed to have taken its toll on the Dominican. “It looked like he wasn't out in that situation. Good kid. He probably lost it a little bit,” Cash said, according to MLB.com, before saying he would talk to Uceta and “some young guys.”

The incident between Castellanos and Uceta overshadowed a historic moment for Phillies' Kyle Schwarber, who broke the MLB record for most leadoff home runs in a season with his 14th home run this year.

Jose Caballero's RBI single in the second inning tied the game before both teams scored runs in the second and third innings.

Trea Turner's two-run homer in the bottom of the third inning seemed to give the Phillies a lead, but the Rays regained the lead and went into the seventh in a 4-4 tie.

Then came Philly's big scoring outburst in the bottom of the eighth inning. Suddenly Uceta looked powerless as he walked Marsh and allowed a double to Kody Clemens. Cal Stevenson's double brought them both home before Stevenson himself scored on Buddy Kennedy's single.

A second two-run blast from Turner completed the score, and all that was left was for Uceta – whose ERA had risen from 0.75 to 1.49 in a matter of minutes – to take out his anger on Castellanos.