Frustration over the possibility of losing their season forced the two Rays players to wait separately in the dugout Wednesday night.
Yandy Diaz was yelling and pointing as he walked toward Jose Caballero before teammates and coaches intervened in the bottom of the eighth inning of the Rays’ 4-2 win over the Athletics.
Caballero and Rays manager Kevin Cash both attributed the problem to players being a little nervous, with the Rays sitting 64-62 and six-and-a-half games out of the playoff zone.
“Emotions got the better of us,” Caballero said. “We’re trying to be the best players. We’re competitors. Emotions got the better of us, we’re just trying to be the best players, and things happen. We’re just trying to play and win games. We’re in bad situations and we’re not playing our best. I wish we could be in position to make the playoffs. That’s probably one of the things that got the better of us. We’re just trying to be competitors and emotions got the better of us. Plays happen, we get in the dugout and things happen.”
The play that sparked the exchange came minutes earlier when Diaz missed a low throw from Caballero with the game tied at 4-2 and a runner appearing to be at home plate.
But while the ball was deflected off Diaz, Miguel Andual made a turn toward second base, and the Rays tagged him out for the second out.
After the inning ended, the Rays broadcast showed Diaz walking away and pointing at an unknown person on the field.
One of the announcers then speculated that Caballero may have been involved in the altercation, before appearing on screen protected by several teammates.
The two stood on opposite sides of the dugout, with several Rays staff members standing in front of Diaz as he continued to complain.
“Those things happen. We’re in a season right now where we’re fighting with everything we can to get back in this situation,” Cash said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do. We’ve got two really competitive players. We’ve got a lot of guys who are really competitive and want things to go perfectly, but sometimes things don’t go as planned. I think there was a little bit of friction, but I’m confident we’ll get through it and be ready to go.”
The win marks the Rays’ fifth victory in their last six games and they will be looking to make it three of four against the Athletics when they enter the series finale on Thursday.
Tampa Bay will miss the playoffs for the first time since 2018 unless they can make up a significant deficit with 36 games remaining in the season.
