Cardinals designated hitter Willson Contreras didn't like a called third strike while he was at the plate against the Pirates on Monday night.
As he faced an 0-2 count in the bottom of the seventh inning in a tight game, he was called out on strikes following a pitch that landed down in the zone. From the replay, the pitch appeared to be a strike, clipping the bottom of the zone, but Contreras still took exception.
He looked back at home plate umpire Derek Thomas and was ejected from the game, which caused him to get incredibly heated as the Cardinals coaching staff tried to hold him back. As he was pushed back toward the dugout, Contreras tossed his bat toward the field as he continued to yell at Thomas, and the lumber hit one of his own coaches.
When he eventually got into the dugout, an entire bucket of Hi-Chew was thrown onto the field, creating a messy scene the team's batboys had to clean up. It's unclear if Contreras tossed the bucket of candy or not. You can watch the wild sequence below:
"Willson was hot. My guess is that he heard something. And then, Mount Vesuvius happened."
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) August 26, 2025
"Frustration understood. It happens. Not to that extent though."
Cardinals announcers Chip Caray and Brad Thompson react as Willson Contreras and Oliver Marmol are ejected. pic.twitter.com/su5ccbUgc6
Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol was also ejected per MLB.com's John Denton. Also, according to Denton, the coach that was hit with Contreras's bat was Brant Brown—St. Louis' hitting coach.
A lot of fallout for what appeared to be a correctly called strike. Despite the situation, the Cardinals held onto their lead and defeated the Pirates 7-6 Monday. We'll see if there's any further punishment following Contreras's outburst.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Willson Contreras Gets Ejected, Hits Own Coach With Bat While Being Restrained.
