Mounting frustration in Detroit boiled over Friday night at Comerica Park, where Tigers shortstop Jose Iglesias got into a heated confrontation with catcher James McCann in the dugout during his club's series opener against the Boston Red Sox.
"I think it shows that they care," Tigers manager Brad Ausmus told MLB.com's Jason Beck. "They care about winning and losing is the most important thing. It's not like this is uncommon. You don't see it all the time on TV cameras, but it's not uncommon on any sports team that guys disagree."
Neither player explained after Detroit's 7-2 loss what caused the testy exchange, though one local sports radio host speculated McCann called out Iglesias for not diving for a ball earlier in the game, prompting an unfavorable reaction from the 25-year-old.
"When you spend seven months with each other, there's going to be disagreements," Ausmus said. "Sometimes, there might be some pushing and shoving.
"There's a lot of bravado involved in those things. I know everyone likes drama, but this is not something that's uncommon. It just happened to be caught on TV. I've seen it dozens of times during my playing career. Sometimes it happens in an airplane; sometimes it happens in the clubhouse."
Despite heading into their weekend series with consecutive wins, the Tigers are 9-12 since the All-Star break since the All-Star break and parted ways last week with David Price, Yoenis Cespedes, and Joakim Soria.
"Normally, when teams struggle and stuff like that, guys are going to disagree on things," Alex Avila said.