Martin: Tulo 'was like a ball of fire' in skirmish with Rays

Troy Tulowitzki wasn't in the mood to make friends on Monday.

Moments after the Toronto Blue Jays' 3-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays in their series opener at Rogers Centre, benches cleared while Steven Souza Jr. and Russell Martin exchanged words.

Souza hit a long fly ball to end the game and initially took exception to something Martin said. Souza would later chalk it up a misunderstanding, but while he and Martin sorted things out on the field, Tulowitzki got in the face of the Rays outfielder.

"I thought Russ was saying something about it, which would have been on me, totally," Souza told reporters. "And I was saying, 'Dude, I'm sorry, I thought I got it.' There was miscommunication in that he actually said, 'I thought you got it.' And so I said, 'Oh, my bad,' and walked away. But then Troy decided to jump in and say some things that weren't really necessary."

Tulowitzki declined to comment after the game, though Martin came to his defense, saying his shortstop didn't have a full grasp of the situation before it was too late.

"It was just a misunderstanding," Martin said. "I just told him he crushed that ball, I thought he got it (for a homer). And before I could really get my message across, Tulo jumped in and was like a ball of fire."

The teams play each other two more times this week, though Souza said there would be no bad blood moving forward.

"They're trying to win a pennant, I'm not going to hold it against him," he said. "Competition's flaring, close game. Stuff like that is going to happen. He's just trying to protect his teammates."