SAN FRANCISCO – It wasn’t fireworks night at Oracle Park but there was a little buzz at the ballpark seconds after the Giants' 7-5 loss to the Boston Red Sox on Friday.
As he rounded second base and began heading for the Giants’ dugout after hitting a game-ending infield pop-up, Wilmer Flores thought he heard Red Sox closer Aroldis Chapman say something toward him so he tried to find out what was said.
The two men engaged in what appeared to be a brief angry exchange and pointed at one another before an umpire, Giants shortstop Willy Adames, first base coach Mark Hallberg and a member of the Red Sox coaching staff stepped in to separate the two men and keep things from escalating.
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SIGN UP HERE Wilmer Flores and Aroldis Chapman appeared to exchange words after the final out pic.twitter.com/NWLb4pU4G4
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As Flores turned and began to walk away, Chapman followed and continued to yell before getting pulled away.
After it was all over, it was still unclear as to what set it all off.
Flores spoke to reporters in the Giants' clubhouse and repeatedly used the phrase, “I don’t know’ when asked to describe what happened.
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Down a long hallway and in the visitor’s clubhouse, reporters who cover the Red Sox were unaware of what happened and didn’t question Chapman about it when he spoke to the media after the game.
Giants manager Bob Melvin himself was unsure what the incident was about. At one point the Giants skipper mused that it might have come as a result of a pitch-clock violation that was called against Chapman one pitch before Flores’ popped out.
“I saw the end of it. I’m not sure,” Melvin said. “Maybe it had something to do with the pitch infraction, I don’t know.”
Only umpires can make a call on pitch-clock violations, whether they be against a pitcher or batter. If Chapman was upset at Flores for that, his anger was clearly aimed in the wrong direction.
Whatever the case, Flores was caught off guard by the situation and tried asking Chapman what was up.
“I thought he said something (and) I wanted to know what he said,” Flores said. “I still don’t know. That’s why I tried to ask him if he said something because I don’t know.”
Flores said Chapman sounded angry while yelling at the first baseman as he rounded the bases.”
“That’s why I asked ‘What was going on?’” Flores said.