White Sox manager Tony La Russa was right: There were consequences to Yermin Mercedes' 3-0 count home run against the Twins on Monday.
It's another of MLB's unwritten rules — don't hit a home run on a 3-0 count while blowing out your opponent — which Mercedes seemed not to care about breaking. And why would he? Well, Twins reliever Tyler Duffey answered that question in the teams' Tuesday meeting when he threw behind Mercedes' legs.
The retaliatory pitch came in the seventh inning, with the White Sox up 4-2. Prior to the pitch, he had shown no prior issues on the mound. Duffey was ejected, as was manager Rocco Baldelli, who came out to argue with umpire Jim Reynolds:
Hope the Sox score 60 on 'em pic.twitter.com/Mqac1YHntK
— White Sox Talk (@NBCSWhiteSox) May 19, 2021
MORE: MLB's future, if we're lucky, won't include La Russa-esque defense of unwritten rules
That's a nice message to send to future generations of would-be baseball players: Play by these outdated unwritten rules or prepare to face the consequences most likely in the form of pitch flying at your head, body or legs.
La Russa called Mercedes "clueless" for his "big mistake" violating MLB's unwritten rule, but seemed to have no issue with Duffey throwing at his player:
"I don't have a problem with how the Twins handled it," he said after the game.
Mercedes rightfully disagreed with his coach prior to Tuesday's game, pointing out that, again, this is just a game.
"I'm going to play like that. I'm Yermin," Mercedes said. "I can't be another person because if I change it, everything is going to change. ... We're just having fun. It's baseball."
