It didn’t even take the Cubs and Brewers two games before tensions boiled over.
In the eighth inning of their 9-0 win Saturday over Milwaukee, Cubs reliever Keegan Thompson was ejected for hitting the Brewers’ Andrew McCutchen. Both dugouts and bullpens emptied but there were no punches thrown, though both teams formed a giant huddle between home plate and first base.
Thompson’s purpose pitch didn’t come out of nowhere.
Brewers pitchers hit three Cubs batters. Milwaukee starter Brandon Woodruff grazed Nick Madrigal as part of a three-run first. Then in the fourth, Willson Contreras was hit by a Woodruff sinker.