The Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Cardinals were involved in a benches- clearing incident before the bottom of the first inning got underway in Tuesday’s game at Great American Ball Park. Brandon Phillips, who said some inflammatory things about the Cardinals after Monday night’s game, was set to lead off and immediately became involved in a heated argument with Yadier Molina. The catcher took his mask off and seemed to spark the verbal battle that quickly emptied both benches and bullpens. Managers Tony La Russa and Dusty Baker were arguing with one another before pitcher Chris Carpenter of the Cardinals and third baseman Scott Rolen of the Reds became entangled as the mass of players then quickly moved from home plate to the wall and screen behind the plate area. Cincinnati starting pitcher Johnny Cueto wound up getting pinned against the screen but was able to re-take the mound in the second inning and wound up lasting 5 1/3 innings and suffering the loss. La Russa and Baker were both ejected but no players were thrown out of the game. Molina homered in the second inning and added a sacrifice fly in the sixth, while Phillips grounded out to end the game, as the Cardinals won 8-4 to pull into a first place tie with the Reds in the National League Central.
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