Mariners, Angels Involved in Benches-Clearing Brawl After Jesse Winker HBP

Some afternoon wrestling broke out during Sunday's baseball game between the Los Angeles Angels and Seattle Mariners.

Angels starting pitcher Andrew Wantz hit Mariners left fielder Jesse Winker with the first pitch to lead off the second inning. Winker responded by going toward the Los Angeles dugout instead of Wantz, and the benches then cleared in dramatic fashion.

There was chaos on the field, the bullpens trotted out and Winker even started flipping off the Los Angeles crowd. Just when it seemed to be settling down, it started up again.

It didn't stop there, as Angels pitcher Raisel Iglesias came onto the field and threw sunflower seeds, which Shannon Drayer of My Northwest noted caused the benches to once again empty.

There was no shortage of ejections, as Jeff Fletcher of the So Cal News Group highlighted:

Winker, J.P. Crawford and Julio Rodriguez being ejected meant the Mariners were without three of the first four hitters in their lineup. Abraham Toro replaced Crawford, Taylor Trammell replaced Rodriguez and Adam Frazier replaced Winker.

The Angels were also put in a difficult situation because their starting pitcher was done after recording just three outs. Jose Suarez came into the game for Wantz and escaped the second inning in just two batters by retiring Kevin Padlo and inducing a double play from Justin Upton.

Drayer pointed out there is some recent history between the two teams that led to Sunday's outburst:

There may also be some frustration on both sides with how the 2022 season is unfolding.

Seattle entered play with a 34-39 record, which was 12 games back of the Houston Astros in the American League West. The Angels were a half-game behind the Mariners at 34-40.

Sunday's game was the final one in a stretch that saw the division rivals face each other eight times in an 11-game span. They do not play each other again until Aug. 5, which may give some time for cooler heads to prevail after they have clearly grown tired of each other during this recent stretch.