Umpire explains Matt Chapman, Willy Adames ejections after Giants-Rockies brawl originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

The Giants’ 7-4 win over the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday night at Coors Field produced lots of highlights and just as many questions.

Before most fans could get comfortable in their seats, Rafael Devers crushed a moonshot two-run homer. But Rockies starter Kyle Freeland took exception to the Giants star admiring his work, leading to a benches-clearing brawl.

In the aftermath, Freeland was ejected, along with Giants third baseman Matt Chapman and shortstop Willy Adames, for their actions in the kerfuffle.

Devers wasn’t ejected and after a lengthy delay as the umpires discussed the situation, he was allowed to complete his home run trot.

After the game, The Athletic’s Andrew Baggarly served as the pool reporter and spoke to umpire Dan Bellino about the incident.

Editor’s note: The following transcript has been edited for brevity and clarity:

Baggarly: “Can you just run through the reasons for each player’s being ejected?”

Bellino: “Well, the pitcher was removed after his actions in the bench-clearing. Obviously, his reaction was, you know, he was an instigator, same with Chapman. He was an instigator, and Adames, while initially he was not one of the instigators, he prolonged the bench-clearing situation by instigating a second melee.”

Baggarly: “And with Chapman specifically, was it the shove counted as the instigation?

Bellino: “I would say just his actions in general, it was overly aggressive.”

Baggarly: “Just out of curiosity, are you working in concert with the video replay room?”

Bellino: “No.”

Baggarly: “It’s what you guys see on the field?”

Bellino: “Yes. That is something we are actually not allowed to go to replay review to assist in bench-clearing situations. I think that’s through the players’ association. That’s something that the players’ association, they do not want us to have the replay review make those decisions. It has to be the [on-field] umpires.”

Baggarly: “And we’re warnings issued?”

Bellino: “Yes.”

Baggarly: “Devers, did he leave the base path or was there any reasoning or any way that there was a thought that maybe he could have been called out for leaving the base paths?”

Bellino: “It’s an interesting rule. It’s one of those that you don’t see hardly ever. We discussed it, but ultimately, because it was a dead-ball situation, we did not deem it to be an abandoning or anything like that.”

Baggarly: “And then, if [Devers] had been ejected, or if his actions had warranted an ejection at that point, would a pinch-runner have had to enter for him to complete his home run trot or what would have happened?”

Bellino: “No. Yeah, we wouldn’t do that.”

Baggarly: “Would he have been credited with a home run still?”

Bellino: “I believe, yes.”

The Giants now will await word from MLB if Chapman or Adames face further discipline for their actions.

Manager Bob Melvin would prefer the league take a lenient approach to the situation, considering the Giants are fighting for an NL wild-card spot.

“I hope MLB understands,” Melvin told reporters after the game. “Hopefully this isn’t significant for these two guys.”

Devers has homered in the first two games of the series in Denver and three consecutive contests overall, and after Tuesday’s incident, it’s a safe bet that if he goes deep in Wednesday’s series finale, he won’t be shy about taking his time rounding the bases.

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The Mets have a decision to make when it comes to Kodai Senga. 

Do you have Senga make his next start -- slated for Sunday against the Reds in Cincinnati -- or skip him or do something more drastic? It seems all options are on the table as a new report from The Athletic's Will Sammon states the Mets are considering a few possibilities, "including potentially asking him to accept an optional minor league assignment" -- according to people familiar with the Mets' thinking. 

Per Senga's contract, he would have to consent to an option.

But is a minor league option out of the realm of possibility? It was once when Senga was regarded as the team's best pitcher after pitching to an All-Star selection and becoming the runner-up for the NL Rookie of the Year award in 2023. Even this year, the right-hander pitched to a 1.47 ERA before his injury put him on the shelf for a month. But since returning in mid-July, Senga has struggled. He's posted a 6.56 ERA across 35.2 innings since the return, which includes his last outing in which he allowed five runs in 4.2 innings against the Marlins on Sunday.

That performance prompted manager Carlos Mendozato hint at changing the rotation to help Senga. Another possibility for Senga is pushing his turn in the order altogether.

The Post's Mike Puma reported Tuesday that the Mets are "leaning" on having Nolan McLean pitch the series finale Sunday on normal rest after David Peterson and Jonah Tong pitch Friday and Saturday.

McLean has taken the Mets by storm, winning his first four starts with a 1.37 ERA, including Tuesday against the AL-best Detroit Tigers. Clay Holmes is slotted to pitch Wednesday's series finale, and the off day on Thursday allows the Mets to give McLean that start on Sunday. 

But simply skipping Senga's turn is a temporary solution. The Mets need Senga and Sean Manaea -- another struggling starter -- back to form to make a playoff run, but time could be running out to do so.

“They are until they’re not," Mendoza said of Senga and Manaea's place in the rotation ahead of Tuesday's game. "We haven't made any decisions yet, we’re still having discussions. We’re going to be flexible and we gonna take advantage of off days and continue to have discussions. But as of right now, we haven’t made any decisions yet.”

After a tremendous August saw the Mets post one of their best offensive months in franchise history, they arrived in Detroit and stung the AL Central-leading Tigers for 22 runs on 25 hits and nine walks in the first 18 innings of September.

“It’s just a lot of guys playing with confidence now, trusting each other,” manager Carlos Mendoza said about his team after they pounded out 12 runs on 17 hits, including four long balls in Tuesday’s convincing win.

The skipper has often spoken about being a tough lineup one through nine, and he got it all with a pair of solo home runs from Pete Alonso, one from Juan Soto, and three hits from Brandon Nimmo at the top of the order while also getting three hits from Brett Baty out of the nine-hole and two from Luis Torrens in the eight spot, including a three-run shot the blew the game wide open in the fourth.

“Torrens getting the huge three-run homer with two outs, Baty having a really good night again, guys getting on base, Jeff [McNeil] another good night,” he said, noting McNeil added three hits and three batted in. “It’s a pretty good lineup. Guys controlling the strike zone and then doing damage when we have to.”

In the last 30 days, the Mets lead MLB in every slash line category, .292/.366/.525 with an .891 OPS, while socking 55 home runs and 179 RBI. They've also done the little things, including stealing 35 bags, with four of them coming on Tuesday, including a first career steal by Torrens.

“I’m glad they’re on my team,” Mets starter Nolan McLean said after delivering six innings of two-run ball. “It’s a lot of fun to watch. It’s nine really tough outs for the opposing pitcher every time we go out there.”

Soto, who walked and singled in addition to his seventh-inning 408-foot blast, has homered five times in the last five games and has 37 on the year with 91 RBI to go along with his .923 OPS. (So much for concerns about a down year.) And Alonso, with his two homers, now has 33 on the season with 112 RBI, and raised his OPS to .867 for the season.

“I think we’re doing a really good job of capitalizing on pitches in the zone,” Alonso said. “I think we’re recognizing hanging breaking balls really well, I think we’re doing damage on heaters really well, I think we’re doing a really good job of letting those borderline pitches go and making pitchers pay when they come over the heart of the dish.”

Alonso did just that when he whalloped a 3-0 fastball from Tigers starter Sawyer Gipson-Long for a majestic, 435-foot blast to centerfield with two down in the top of the first inning.

“Just saw a 3-0 heater right over the middle of the plate,” he said. “Saw it in my area and let it fly.”

Nolan McLean had a lead before he threw a pitch in the fourth start of his big league career on Tuesday night in Detroit. But the Mets’ young right-hander gave that lead right back before he escaped the bottom of the first, allowing two runs on two hits and two walks. 

In a worrying sign, it was quite noticeable that McLean didn’t appear to have any feel on two of his three most-used pitches, the sweeper and curveball. In the 24-pitch frame, he threw 11 sweepers with only two going for strikes and spun four curves, resulting in two balls and an RBI single.

That’s when the youngster made the adjustment that ended up powering him to a fourth win in as many big league starts.

“So we started to attack with some harder velo pitches,” Mclean said. After the first, he threw just five sweepers over the next three innings, compared to 10 fastballs, seven changeups, and two cutters. The result? McLean surrendered a walk and a single in the second but closed the day by retiring the last 14 straight Tigers he faced, including six strikeouts. 

Manager Carlos Mendoza said that the battle from the 24-year-old “shows a lot of maturity.” 

“That’s what you call pitching, understanding that you have to make adjustments and find a way to get through five, six innings,” the skipper said. “I thought he attacked, and then once we got the lead, he continued to stay on the attack. He went to the sinker when he needed to, the changeup when he needed to, and then continued to mix in some of those sweepers and the curveball.”

Luis Torrens, who caught McLean for the first time in the game and added a three-run home run to give the starter a four-run cushion in the fourth, called the pitcher’s performance “excellent.”

“He still surprises me to see what he’s been able to do,” Torrens said, speaking through an interpreter. “The adjustments that he’s been able to make, he’s just been excellent since he’s been up here.”

For Pete Alonso, the rookie’s performances have come as no surprise because of the work he is doing off the field between starts, adding that McLean’s “commitment to his process” has been the most impressive aspect.

“What he’s doing on the field is great and awesome and is helping us win, but I am really thoroughly impressed with his day-to-day process, like the stuff that no one really sees on day one, two, three, and four between starts,” Alonso, who socked two homers in the win, said. “I know everyone is gonna be talking about all the great stuff that he’s doing on the field, which is for sure warranted, but how he’s going about his business, the day-to-day, is super impressive. And that’s the reason why he’s able to do what he’s been able to do on the field.

“Huge huge kudos [for] that. He’s been a pro since he’s come up, and, for me, seeing him go about his business, there’s no shock at all about why he’s finding success.”

After allowing just four runs through his first 26.1 innings of his MLB career, his teammates are excited about the future.

“When he throws the rock, he’s got poise, he’s got grit, obviously the stuff to match that. Really impressed so far with his first few starts,” Alonso said.

“It’s the attitude that he has when he’s on that mound,” Torrens added. “He’s always out there trying to compete. He has that attitude and that flair of a superstar.”

On a night when he didn’t have his best stuff at first, McLean being able to dip into his full arsenal – Statcast had him throw six different pitches – it showed Mendoza that the youngster appears to have “a pretty good feel and idea of what he’s trying to do on the mound.”

“Before you know it, you look up and it’s six innings and he’s giving you a chance to win a baseball game,” the manager said. “Another really good sign for a kid that is making his fourth start at the big league level.”

McLean admitted that he started to “lose confidence” in his sweeper and curve because he wasn’t throwing it for strikes. But, once he “got in a groove” with the higher velo pitches went back and found the feel for his offspeed pitches and had them later in the game, getting a called third strike on both pitches in the fifth and sixth.

“Lotta times throwing fastballs gets me right back on track,” he said. “Once I am able to start locating my heater, I am able to kinda find that feel in my hand again to start manipulating other pitches.”

On the night, he threw just 56 of 90 pitches for strikes, but got 15 outs with eight whiffs on 34 swings (24 percent) and 22 called strikes for a 33 percent called strike-whiff rate.

“I was proud of the way I competed,” McLean said. “Obviously first inning didn’t go the way I wanted, but I had trust in my stuff. And I knew if I could find some pitches later in the game, I knew I was gonna be tough to hit.”