Last night’s Astros-Mariners game was a heated contest as both teams desperately needed to win the rubber match before they headed off for their final few games of the regular season to determine who was going to the playoffs and who was not.
Houston Astros reliever Hector Neris was really fired up as he shouted at Julio Rodríguez after striking out the Mariners star during the sixth inning of Houston’s 8-3 win. Everybody came running out as a brawl nearly kicked off.
Fast forward a few hours and now there are accusations that Neris yelled something homophobic.
According to Seattle Times reporter Adam Jude, Mariners third baseman Eugenio Suarez said Neris screamed an anti-gay term at Rodriguez.
“He started talking bad words in Spanish,” Suarez said, according to Jude. “He started doing something that is not good for people who speak Spanish and understand. I was in the on-deck circle and I heard that. That pissed me off.”
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After the game, Neris downplayed the incident, telling reporters, “He’s my friend.”
Rodríguez was not in the clubhouse postgame and said through team spokesman Adam Gresch that he didn’t believe there were any prior issues with Neris. Rodríguez described himself as shocked by Neris’ actions, Gresch said.
Rodríguez and Neris were teammates on the Dominican Republic’s World Baseball Classic team.
The victory kept the Astros ahead of the Mariners for the third and final American League Wild Card spot.
