Zavala on Play at Plate, Brawl ‘Everybody Will Forget About It’

In the bottom of the sixth inning of the Pittsburgh Pirates game against the Chicago White Sox on Sunday, Oneil Cruz broke for home on a Ke’Bryan Hayes grounder to third base.

White Sox third baseman Yoan Moncada threw home, and Cruz slid late to try and beat the throw. Cruz collided with White Sox catcher Seby Zavala.

Zavala had some words for Cruz, who was laying near home plate injured. That injury ended up being a fractured left ankle that will leave Cruz sidelined for the time being.

The play led to a benches-clearing brawl as Carlos Santana returned some words and a shove to Zavala to defend his teammate.

“It was kind of a baseball play. I wasn’t too happy with how late the slide was, I was just talking to Santana about it. He didn’t like what I said, he said something I didn’t like. That’s what happened. I think in a couple of days everybody will forget about it.” Zavala said on what all transpired.

“Just a baseball play. Didn’t want anybody to get hurt, didn’t want it to escalate that far. It escalated and can’t really do anything about it,” he added.

The Pirates ended up defeating the White Sox 1-0, giving them a series win and a 6-3 record to begin their 2023 campaign.