Benches clear during Brewers-Rays game, fight breaks out, punches thrown between Abner Uribe, Jose Siri

To say emotions were running high at American Family Field on Tuesday night would be an understatement.

The Milwaukee Brewers, having entered their matchup against the Tampa Bay Rays already feeling like they'd been cheated in losses both Sunday and Monday, clashed this time with both the umpires as well as their interleague opponent.

In the end, the Brewers notched a hard-fought 8-2 victory that included the successful debut of rookie Tyler Black, who collected hits in each of his first two at-bats after he entered the game in the first inning as an injury replacement for Gary Sánchez.

But it was what happened from the sixth inning on that will have repercussions for the Brewers moving forward as starting pitcher Freddy Peralta, manager Pat Murphy and reliever Abner Uribe were all ejected.

Peralta and Murphy were tossed in succession in the sixth with Milwaukee holding a 6-1 lead.

Peralta had been cruising, having allowed only a third-inning solo home run to Jose Siri (a 452-foot bomb that was the longest of the season at American Family Field) when Siri again stepped to the plate.

The right-hander threw three consecutive balls before hitting Siri squarely in the left thigh with his fourth offering, a transgression that led to home-plate umpire Chris Guccione to first confer with the rest of his umpiring crew and then toss Peralta.

"(Siri) hit a home run in the top of the third and it was a first-pitch home run. So he ran the bases, whatever, and nothing was really said that we noticed," Guccione told a pool reporter after the game. "Then you go to the sixth inning, a 3-0 count, and the pitch that hit Siri went right at him.

"You put what happened previously in the game together, and we get together as a crew and we discuss all the events, and we determined as a crew that Peralta was intentionally throwing at Siri. And with that comes an ejection. That’s really the process."

Two other players – Tampa Bay's Harold Ramírez in the top of the fifth inning and Milwaukee's Rhys Hoskins in the bottom of the fifth – had already been hit by pitches.

"Those were breaking balls. There was no intent there that I felt (or we felt) as a crew," Guccione said. "There was no intent anywhere there."

Guccione confirmed there had been no warnings issued prior to Peralta being ejected.

"There are three options: You can do nothing, you can warn and you can eject," he said. "Those are our three options. In this situation where we got together as a crew and determined that it was intentional, our only option is to eject in this situation. If there is a situation where you think that warnings are going to be sufficient, then you can (issue) warnings, yeah."

It was a tough pill to swallow for Peralta, who'd dominated Tampa Bay through 66 pitches. He said he took no issue with Siri perhaps lingering a bit too long to watch the homer at home plate, or with his trot.

"He’s been doing that. I’ve been watching video of him hitting homers and he always does that," Peralta said. "I don’t get mad because I’ve been in the league for seven years, I've given up a lot of homers and I never did something after. It’s my first time I got ejected from a game in seven seasons and there’s no reason for me to hit him.

"Especially because my pitch count was really low, so I’m trying to give our bullpen a little bit of a breather because they’ve been pitching a lot. My goal for tonight was going deep in the game because I wanted to give them a little bit (of rest) because they’ve been pitching a lot.

"There’s no reason that I’d want to hit him and take the risk to be ejected."

Predictably, Guccione's decision raised the ire of Murphy, who emerged from the dugout and the two quickly went nose to nose. Murphy had been ejected by Ryan Additon in Monday's loss after a controversial batter's interference call went against the Brewers late in the game.

But Murphy wouldn't expound on the situation afterward.

"I'm not sure what went on with all that," he said. "All I can say is I’m just glad nobody got seriously hurt. There's a lot of emotion in the game. I think the way the game ended last night, there was a lot of emotion. I think it lends itself to more emotion.

"Things happen between people; you don't know the history of everything. All I know is that I'm better off not saying anything because I need to think through it, talk through it and see what really happened. Get all the facts before I represent the Brewers by making any comments."

Said Rays manager Kevin Cash: "Siri got a hold of one. Peralta had really thrown the ball well up to that point, commanding the baseball extremely well -- 3-0, it raises suspicion."

For the second straight night, associate manager Rickie Weeks took the reins from Murphy in the wake of his ejection. And it wouldn't be long before he would be in the thick of things on the field.

And once again, Siri was involved.

This time he was leading off the eighth inning with the Brewers having extended their lead to 8-2 and Uribe on the mound.

On the third pitch, Siri hit a grounder to first that Hoskins fielded and flipped to the covering Uribe. In the immediate aftermath, the two players passed by each other and appeared to brush shoulders lightly before exchanging words.

Hoskins and first-base umpire Alex MacKay quickly stepped in between but Uribe then threw an open-handed slap toward Siri, who quickly fired back. In a flash a full-fledged melee broke out with both dugouts and bullpens emptying as the action started moving down the first-base line and back toward home plate.

Order was restored relatively quickly, however, with Uribe being led into the Brewers' dugout and then the clubhouse. The umpires then conferred for some time, with Uribe and Siri both being ejected in the aftermath. Hoby Milner took over for Uribe at that point and retired the next two batters.

“There were some words shared that didn’t have much to do with the game that probably shouldn’t have been shared there in that exchange," Uribe said through translator Daniel deMondesert. "It’s one of those moments that was a hot situation in the game itself.”

Said Siri, through translator Manny Navarro: "When I went to first base, I just went there normal and he kind of hit me on the shoulder. So I asked him, why did he do that? And he just said because I felt like it. From right there, nothing was said. That's when he threw the first punch, and then that's when I defended myself with the two punches."

Hoskins, who cuts a commanding presence at 6-foot-4 and 240 pounds, was actually knocked down when Uribe and Siri initially went at it. He then continued to stalk the backtracking Siri in the aftermath before Siri could finally be corralled and pulled away by members of his own team.

"I haven’t seen a replay yet, but I felt like I kind of got stepped on and I ended up on the ground," Hoskins said. "My instinct is to protect my guys wearing the same jersey as I am. Regardless of who started it and what’s going on, the instinct is to help in whatever fashion that may be."

Uribe is likely facing a suspension for his role in the altercation, although he will have the right to appeal.

"The league is going to make whatever decision they’re going to make," he said. "All I can do now is wait and see for their decision."

There won't be much time for either team to stew on what occurred, with a 12:10 p.m. first pitch scheduled for Wednesday.

"I think guys are hot about it just because there’s emotion in the game and sometimes that takes a little bit to come down," Hoskins said. "But most of the talk right after the game was about having a chance to win the series tomorrow after losing three straight.

"So, I’m happy that we were able to come away with a win today despite some of the craziness and now we have a chance to win a series tomorrow."

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Here's how Tuesday's incidents unfolded via video.

Freddy Peralta hits Jose Siri during Brewers vs Rays game

Freddy Peralta, Pat Murphy ejection video

Milwaukee Brewers fight: Abner Uribe and Jose Siri brawl in eighth inning

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Brewers-Rays fight: Benches clear, Abner Uribe, Siri throw punches