Canada And Mexico Brawl During The World Baseball Classic
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Christian Petersen/Getty Images(PHOENIX) — Things turned a bit ugly on Saturday at the World Baseball Classic.
Several players threw punches in an all-out brawl during the ninth inning of Canada’s 10-3 win over Mexico in Pool D play.
The fights broke out when Canada’s Rene Tosoni was hit in the back by a pitch from Mexico’s Arnold Leon. Chaos broke out as the melee also involved fans going at it in the stands.
Several police officers had to intervene to stop the fights and seven players were ejected.
“Whoever says that we’re just here as an extra spring training game or we’re just here to say we represented our country and then go home obviously didn’t see how intense that game was and what it means to everybody that was involved,” Canadian slugger Justin Morneau said.
Tension rose significantly when Chris Robinson of Canada hit a bunt single in the ninth inning with his team up 9-3. It was fielded by third baseman Luis Cruz, who seemed to tell Leon to hit the next batter.
Tiebreaker rules in the World Baseball Classic rely heavily on runs scored and Canada was just trying to tack on one more in the ninth inning.
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