The seventh inning of Monday’s game between the Toronto Blue Jays and Pittsburgh Pirates delivered plenty of drama.
To start, Blue Jays manager John Schneider was ejected during the top of the inning after Davis Schneider was called out on strikes while facing Pirates reliever Evan Sisk.
Davis Schneider appeared to hold his swing back on an offering that was near the bottom of the zone but was rung up on the pitch by home plate umpire Mark Ripperger.
Toronto’s skipper immediately emerged from the first base dugout and was shown the hook after exchanging words with Ripperger on his way to the plate.
This marks the third time John Schneider has been tossed during the 2025 season and is the 11th over his four-year big league career.
He is considered a top candidate for American League Manager of the Year as the Blue Jays sit atop the AL East division with a 73-53 record.
Tempers then continued to boil over into the bottom of the seventh after Pirates outfielder Tommy Pham flipped his bat on a four-pitch walk issued by Blue Jays left-hander Brandon Little.
Before continuing down the line, Pham turned back and approached catcher Tyler Heineman, causing the benches to spill onto the field.
Cooler heads prevailed after Blue Jays veteran George Springer was seen escorting Pham away from the commotion.
Heineman told Sportsnet’s Arden Zwelling post-game that he didn’t say anything to Pham and that Pham didn’t say anything to him.
“It was weird, man. It was weird. Unprovoked and super weird,” Heineman said.
Schneider also weighed in on the incident after the game, saying, “I’m not worried about Tommy Pham’s opinion about anything, really. I’m worried about our defence. I’m worried about our at-bats.”
The back and forth didn’t stop there, however, as Pham took to X in the aftermath of what ended up a 5-2 Pirates win to share his side of the story.
“(Complaining) about a ball not being called a strike to the umpire when it’s clearly below the zone and away is disrespectful not only to the umpire but the hitter as well,” Pham wrote in a reply to a post sharing Heineman’s comments from MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson. “So like I said when I flipped the bat (expletive) him… dude has two years in the show I know the zone.”
Pham has long been one of MLB’s most controversial figures. Earlier this season, he was suspended one game for conduct directed at a Los Angeles Angels fan. The veteran outfielder was also suspended three games in 2022 while a member of the Cincinnati Reds for slapping Joc Pederson over a fantasy football dispute.
