By Andrew Wagner
The Sports Xchange
MILWAUKEE - Not much has gone right for the Milwaukee Brewers over the last few weeks. Even on a night that they won back-to-back games for the first time since Aug. 25, there wasn’t much celebrating in the home clubhouse at Miller Park.
Home runs by Ryan Braun and Matt Clark, and another fine pitching performance from right-hander Mike Fiers were overshadowed by a fourth-inning fastball from Fiers that drilled Marlins right fielder Giancarlo Stanton in the face.
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Fiers, who had pitched out of a bases-loaded jam an inning earlier and had two on with two out when his 0-1 fastball hit the NL’s home run and RBI leader, was distraught while Stanton lay on the ground, gushing blood as trainers and medical personnel tended to him.
“It was very tough,” said Fiers, who fought back tears while speaking to the media after the game. “I’ve never in my life experienced something like that. It was very hard for me to take in everything at the moment and come back and throw another pitch.
“I just want to send my thoughts and prayers and everything to Giancarlo Stanton. You never think of throwing at somebody like that. Never in my life has that happened. I just feel very, very sad that I hit him. I’m sorry to their teammates, their fans, his family. It is just tough.”
After a lengthy delay, the inning resumed. Plate umpire Jeff Kellogg ruled that Stanton was swinging on the pitch, so instead of having the bases loaded, the Marlins sent up pinch hitter Reed Johnson to finish the at-bat.
Fiers, still shaken from the incident, then hit Johnson with the next pitch. Kellogg ruled that Johnson, too, was swinging on the pitch, ending the inning on a strikeout.
That led to an altercation between Kellogg and Marlins third baseman Casey McGehee which, in turn, led to the benches and bullpens emptying and McGehee and manager Mike Redmond being ejected.
Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said there was no ill intent on the part of Fiers.
“Fiers is pretty upset,” Roenicke said. “The biggest thing is he knows he didn’t do it on purpose. Everybody knows that. And he wants to just make sure that they know that.”
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However, Fiers admitted what happened Thursday will be difficult to get over.
“It is going to be tough,” he said. “Like I said, I’ve never been in this situation. I have to figure out something to kind of calm myself down and get back to just playing baseball. We’re trying to win games here. We’re not trying to hurt anybody. We’re not going after anybody. One pitch got away and ended up hitting him in the face, and I feel terrible.”
While the Brewers were free-falling from playoff contention, Fiers has been the most consistent Milwaukee starter. Since joining the rotation Aug. 9, he is 6-1 with a 1.74 ERA and 53 strikeouts in 46 1/3 innings.
