Rangers Exact Painful Revenge on Bautista, Blue Jays

Rougned Odor delivered a clean right hook to the jaw of Toronto outfielder Jose Bautista on Sunday following Bautista’s hard slide into second base.

Tensions that had been mounting between Texas and Toronto since last October came to a boil Sunday in a wild benches-clearing brawl at Globe Life Park.

In the eighth inning of the rubber game of the series (as well as the final regular-season game of the year between the two clubs), Blue Jays outfielder Jose Bautista was drilled by an inside fastball from Rangers right-hander Matt Bush.

Although Texas was clinging to a one-run lead at the time and Bautista represented the potential tying run, the pitch from Bush was thought to be a retaliatory gesture for Bautista’s gaudy bat flip in the 2015 ALDS.

The hit-by-pitch also could have marked the end of the issue. Instead, when Justin Smoak followed with a ground ball to the left side of the infield, Bautista went into second base with a high slide aimed at the legs of Rougned Odor.

Odor’s throw sailed wide of first base, and he turned to confront Bautista after the slide. After an initial shove knocked Bautista back a couple of steps, Odor clocked him with one of the most accurate punches leveled in the history of American team sports.

The well-placed wallop sent Bautista’s head, helmet and sunglasses flying in three different directions, and he was quickly restrained from behind by Adrian Beltre while both benches and bullpens emptied around them.

Rangers manager Jeff Banister and Toronto skipper John Gibbons – who had been ejected from the ballgame in the third inning and, therefore, should not have returned to the field – were soon engaged in a heated shouting match, which only ended when Banister was physically led back to the dugout by third-base umpire Lance Barrett.

Odor and Bautista were ejected immediately for their roles in the fracas, as were Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson and Texas bench coach Steve Buechele. In addition, warnings were issued to both teams, which meant an automatic ejection for Toronto’s Jesse Chavez (as well as acting manager DeMarlo Hale) when he hit Prince Fielder with a pitch in the bottom of the eighth.

After the game, Bautista said the Rangers were “pretty cowardly” for waiting until his final at-bat to hit him with a pitch.

“It shows at least the apparent lack of leadership they have over there when it comes to playing baseball the right way,” Bautista continued. “Baseball plays are supposed to be taken care of by baseball plays.”

Gibbons repeatedly called Banister and the Rangers “gutless” when he was on the field following the fight, and he reiterated that sentiment in his postgame comments. “The other 29 teams, if they have an issue with you, they come at you right away,” he said.

For his part, Jeff Banister said his club is “far from gutless” and continued to defend his second baseman, especially against claims that Odor is a dirty ballplayer.

“He is such a team player,” Banister said of Odor. “He does everything to be able to play for the team. He plays hard for the team, to win for the team. It’s never individualized for him. It’s always about the team.”

Discipline was handed down from the Major League Baseball offices on Tuesday, with Odor receiving the longest suspension (eight games) as well as a $5,000 fine. Odor will appeal both the fine and suspension.

Elvis Andrus was also suspended one game (which he served Tuesday) for throwing a punch at Toronto’s Josh Donaldson. On the Blue Jays’ side, Gibbons and Chavez were penalized three games apiece while Bautista and first-base coach Tim Leiper both received one-game suspensions.

For Texas, individual fines were also levied against Bush, Buechele, Sam Dyson, A.J. Griffin and Robinson Chirinos – the latter two fined for being on the field while on the disabled list.

Lost amid the in-game fireworks Sunday was the fact that Matt Bush earned his first big-league victory as the Rangers won two out of three versus Toronto over the weekend.

Bush, whose contract was purchased from Double-A Frisco when Delino DeShields was optioned to Round Rock, made his long-awaited MLB debut Friday and retired all three batters he faced in a 5-0 loss at the hands of knuckleballer R.A. Dickey.

Bobby Wilson connected for his second grand slam in less than a week Saturday off Blue Jays starter Marco Estrada, giving Texas an early 4-0 advantage in the bottom of the second.

After Shawn Tolleson coughed up a three-run lead and allowed Toronto to tie the score in the ninth, Drew Stubbs provided the Rangers’ first walk-off victory of the season when he homered off Gavin Floyd in the bottom of the tenth inning.

And on Sunday, Bush was the pitcher of record when Ian Desmond launched a go-ahead three-run shot against Chavez in the seventh, giving Texas a 7-6 come-from-behind win to clinch the series.

Tolleson Stripped of Closer’s Title

Hard-throwing reliever Sam Dyson earned his second save of the year Sunday, and he’ll get more chances going forward after Shawn Tolleson was bumped from the closer’s role on the heels of another blown save.

Given a 5-4 lead Tuesday courtesy of Ian Desmond’s two-out homer in the top of the ninth, Tolleson allowed a pair of base hits and an intentional walk before Khris Davis lifted a walk-off grand slam to left-center field – Davis’ third home run of the game.

“Any time you go out there and don’t get the job done, it stinks,” Tolleson said. “It hurts. No matter how many times you have success, if you have a few bad outings, it hurts a little more. Like [Tuesday], our guys battled and took a lead in the ninth inning. To go out and give it back up, that stinks.”

Jeff Banister announced that Dyson will be used in save situations for the time being, with Tolleson moving into a less prominent role in the Texas bullpen.

Tolleson’s meltdown Tuesday was the low point of a three-game sweep by the Athletics this week in Oakland, leaving the Rangers one game behind Seattle for first place in the American League West.

Wilhelmsen Optioned, Jackson Recalled

Right-handed reliever Tom Wilhelmsen was optioned to Triple-A Round Rock on Monday as hard-throwing Luke Jackson was recalled from the Express, a move made following a string of spotty outings by Wilhelmsen.

After being rocked in his season debut and working to get his ERA below 10.00 ever since, Wilhelmsen has allowed multiple earned runs in four different appearances this season, including each of his last two against Toronto.

In other pitching news, 37-year-old right-hander Kyle Lohse was signed by Texas to a minor-league contract and assigned to Round Rock. He made his first start for the Express on Tuesday and gave up three earned runs in five-plus innings of work versus Albuquerque.