Rays' Kevin Cash After Aroldis Chapman Pitch: 'Someone Has to Be Accountable'

Tampa Bay Rays manager Kevin Cash was not happy with the New York Yankees following his team's 5-3 loss Tuesday.

"It's absolutely ridiculous," Cash said after a game that saw the benches clear when Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman threw a fastball by the head of pinch hitter Michael Brosseau, per ESPN. "It was mishandled by the Yankees. Certainly the pitcher on the mound. It was mishandled by the umpires."

He continued, saying, "Somebody has to be accountable. The last thing I'll say on it is I got a whole damn stable full of guys that throw 98 mph. Period."

Umpires met after Chapman's pitch to Brosseau and issued warnings, especially since Yankees starter Masahiro Tanaka hit Joey Wendle with a pitch in the first inning. Cash said he thought that hit-by-pitch was intentional.

Chapman eventually struck Brosseau out, and the pinch hitter exchanged words with someone on the Yankees. That prompted the benches to clear.

As for Cash's suggestion that he has a number of options who can throw fastballs at New York hitters, Yankees manager Aaron Boone said it was "a pretty scary comment. I don't think that's right at all. But I'm not going to get into it right now."

There was surely some lingering frustration from the Yankees' perspective considering they entered play on a six-game losing streak against Tampa Bay. They also recently lost seven straight overall but snapped that losing streak with a win over the New York Mets on Saturday.

In part because of the head-to-head dominance, the Rays are 3.5 games ahead of New York in the American League East race.

Tuesday's loss snapped a six-game winning streak for Tampa Bay that included sweeps of the Baltimore Orioles and Miami Marlins.

The Rays and Yankees face each other again Wednesday, and umpires will surely look to control the tension from the start given the events from Tuesday's contest.