Orioles defend Sisco's bunt after Twins say he broke baseball's unwritten rules

When Baltimore Orioles catcher Chance Sisco laid down a bunt in the ninth inning of Sunday's game against the Minnesota Twins, it ruffled some feathers. With Baltimore trailing 7-0 and Minnesota pitcher Jose Berrios throwing a one-hitter, Brian Dozier and the Twins saw it as a violation of the so-called unwritten rules of baseball.

The Orioles clapped back Monday.

"The problem is the unwritten rules are written differently by 30 different teams and applied differently by 30 different teams," catcher Caleb Joseph told Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun. "When they're not jointly seen eye to eye, you're going to have issues. One of my unwritten rules would be: Don't shift a guy in the ninth inning."

Sisco bunted to avoid the shift. Joseph argues that if the Twins thought the game was out of hand, then using an infield shift was a violation in itself.

Manager Buck Showalter said he wasn't sure what late-game play would next be deemed an affront to the opposition.

"I just wonder where some of the bunting thing is going to end," Showalter said. "Are you, like, not allowed to throw changeups when you are up 6-0? Like, where does it stop?"

Berrios, who eventually recorded a complete-game shutout, took issue with the timing of Sisco's bunt, and veteran teammate Dozier chalked it up to a rookie's lapse in judgment.

"Obviously, we're not a fan of it. He's a young kid. I could've said something at second base, but they have tremendous veteran leadership over there with Chris Davis, Adam Jones, and those guys," Dozier told MLB.com's Rhett Bollinger on Sunday. "I'm sure they'll address it and move forward. It's all about learning up here."

The Orioles addressed it, but probably not to Dozier's liking. First baseman Chris Davis, for one, had his young catcher's back.

"At the end of the day, your job is to try to go out and win the game," Davis said. "For whatever reason, it's been OK and really accepted these last few years to win the game without hurting the other team's feelings. If it's acceptable to shift with a seven-run lead in the ninth inning, it's acceptable to bunt. There are certain things I don't agree with when you talk about the unwritten rules, but I definitely think that what Chance did was warranted."

Both sides have ample time to cool down, as they don't square off again until a four-game set in Minnesota at the beginning of July.