Gibbons wants Archer suspended for throwing behind Bautista
With no known history of bad blood between Chris Archer and Jose Bautista, it caught many off guard when the Tampa Bay Rays starter threw a pitch directly behind the veteran slugger in his first at-bat of the game.
Manager John Gibbons told reporters after the Toronto Blue Jays' 3-1 victory marked the team's first win streak of 2017 that he'd be "disappointed" if the league didn't punish Archer for his actions.
"My issue, I would expect there to be some kind of suspension," Gibbons said, according to Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com.
"The way they handle things now, the (Manny) Machado thing the other day, the ball was thrown behind him. Now, if the umpire had not issued a warning, okay maybe he didn't think something was wrong. Since he issued a warning, maybe he (figured) 'ahh something's not right here.'
"If the umpire thinks something was issued for a reason, maybe he thought there was some intent and that's why I would imagine the league would step up like they do most of the time. I would be disappointed if they didn't. They want to maintain that, whatever the word is, continuity," he said.
A few pitches after the incident, Bautista flied out to right field. On his way back to the dugout, he appeared to say something to Archer, who didn't seem responsive toward the 36-year-old.
"It was loud. I really couldn't hear anything," Archer said. "I was just trying to go inside. The ball got away from me a little bit."
"I just asked him if he was okay. He said he was good. That's it," Bautista said in reference to his exchange with Archer, according to Sportsnet's Arden Zwelling.
Archer, who entered Sunday's start with an impressive 6-4 record and 3.17 ERA all time against the Blue Jays, logged 7 1/3 innings on 112 pitches with five strikeouts in the contest.
Bautista, meanwhile, became the ninth player in team history to reach the 1,000-hit milestone with an RBI double in the bottom of the eighth inning.
(Video courtesy: MLB.com)