Brewers Show Yankees That They Still Have Some Fight in Them

Tom Trebelhorn’s team still has something to fight for, so, of course, the Milwaukee Brewers manager chose to call what served as the main event between his team and the Yankees “a silly sidelight.”

That main event -- viewed by a crowd of 200 -- consisted of a fight started when Luis Polonia charged Milwaukee pitcher Mark Knudson well into what turned out to be a Brewers’ rout of the Yankees. Alas, that was about the only fight shown by the Yankees in what turned out to be a 14-1 loss in the first game of a doubleheader Thursday.

The Yankees won the second game 5-4 on a two-run home run by Don Mattingly in the bottom of the 10th inning.

Mattingly stepped to the plate after Dan Plesac walked leadoff hitter Alvaro Espinoza. Mattingly hit Plesac’s first pitch into the lower-right-field seats. “He walked Espi and it looked like he was having a little bit of a control problem, so I didn’t want to give him that first strike,” said Mattingly.

The home run was Mattingly’s second of the night; he accounted for the Yankees’ only run in the first game by hitting his 21st home run. “It was nice to come back and beat them, especially the way they drummed up in the first game,” Mattingly said.

The Yankees trailed by one in the bottom of the inning because Brewers right fielder Rob Deer led off the top of the inning with a home run against Lee Guetterman. Two innings before, Milwaukee tied the game at three on the strength of a two-out, two-run home run by Mike Felder, off reliever Lance McCullers.

The Yankees avoided being swept for the first time in six doubleheaders this season. The victory was only their second in the last nine games.

The Yankees announced the crowd at 11,230, the smallest since April 18, 1983, when the figure was 11,148. It should be noted that American League announces ticket sales, not turnstile count. There appeared to be approximately 2,000 fans in the park for the second game of the doubleheader, which was played to make up rainouts from Tuesday and Wednesday.

After the first game, Trebelhorn wanted to speak of more important things, such as the 14 hits by his team, Knudson’s pitching (two hits, one run up until the point of his ejection after 5-plus innings) as well as Milwaukee’s shot at some win-place-or-show money in the American League East.

“We’re taking out of context something unimportant to the ballgame,” Trebelhorn said.

Not to the Yankees fans, who lost most of their rooting interest long before the Yankees were officially eliminated from the division race last weekend. Thus, the brawl brought on the loudest demonstration from a rainout-makeup crowd estimated to number about 200 fans when the first game began.

The fight took place in the sixth inning in a game the Brewers led, 11-1. Two pitches after Polonia tried to bunt his way on, Knudson hit the Yankees DH square in the back with an 0-2 pitch. Polonia charged the mound, went airborne and tried to drop-kick Knudson, only to miss his target and land in the pitcher’s grasp. The 5-foot-8 Polonia was quickly gobbled up in a wrestling hold by both the 6-foot-5 pitcher and catcher Charlie O’Brien, thrown to the ground and immediately trampled by a horde of players from both dugouts.

It resulted in three ejections and many bruised feelings, not to mention a host of interesting explanations from home-plate umpire Dale Ford.

Polonia was ejected for obvious reasons. Knudson was also ejected, incurring the wrath of Trebelhorn.

“We weren’t trying to hit him, that’s for sure,” Trebelhorn said, shaking his head. “To lose your starting pitcher when he’s pitching like that. ... We lead the league in being hit by pitches and we’re close to last in hitting people.”

But Ford saw it differently. “In my judgment, Knudson drilled Polonia on purpose,” said Ford, the acting crew chief. “Knudson looked visibly irritated after that bunt attempt. In that situation, it’s very easy to spot the intent.”

To that, Trebelhorn muttered something about mind-reading. And he muttered even more about what occurred immediately after Ford ejected his pitcher. As he stood aside the swarming mass arguing the point with Ford, both the umpire and manager were plowed into by Mel Hall, the rampaging Yankee who was single-handedly trying to continue the brawl. That set off the usually mild-mannered Trebelhorn, who had to be restrained from going after Hall, who, in turn, was being restrained by a host of Yankees.

“They kept going and going,” Trebelhorn said. “People were saying some unsavory things. ... ‘That was part of the entertainment value of this game, I guess. Those things happen. It’s over with.”

But it didn’t end with the three ejections (Hall was tossed, too).

Yankees pitcher Kevin Mmahat was also ejected, as well as Yankees Manager Bucky Dent, after Mmahat hit O’Brien with a pitch in the seventh inning. That came just moments after the preceding batter, Joey Meyer, hit a home run, then stood admiring the shot in what was by then an 11-1 game.