Dale Thayer Throws Gum After Giving Up Grand Slam; Benches Later Clear

Tuesday night’s Giants-Padres game generated a nice baseball beef between the divisional rivals. On a chart of cooking steak, it’d probably register at a “medium.” The tiff did involve a thrown piece of gum, however, so that’s fun.

Giants catcher Hector Sanchez crushed a grand slam off Padres relief pitcher Dale Thayer for a 9-0 lead in the sixth inning of Tuesday night’s game. (Don’t let the substantial cheers fool you; the game was played in Petco Park.) Sanchez flipped his bat, and Thayer threw his gum in Sanchez’s direction.

Sanchez came up to the plate again in the ninth, while Shawn Kelley was pitching. The catcher grounded out, but exchanged words with Kelley as he walked towards the dugout. The benches cleared, and players from both sides took the opportunity to gesture wildly and dance around.

No punches were thrown; no one was ejected. The hullabaloo marks the second time this season where a Giants-Padres dispute involved a thrown piece of gum.

H/t to Travis

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