Several Seattle Mariners players were involved in a scuffle in the team's clubhouse before Tuesday night's game against the Baltimore Orioles.
Second baseman Dee Gordon asked reporters to leave the clubhouse and shut the door, and shortly after that, a skirmish -- which appeared to involve pushing and shoving -- broke out. The double doors leading into the clubhouse burst open with players shoving and shouting.
The altercation was between Gordon and shortstop Jean Segura, sources told The Seattle Times, and stemmed from an error Gordon had made in the field the previous night. While playing center field in Monday's 2-1 win over the Orioles, Gordon missed a routine fly ball in the top of the seventh inning for a two-base error.
Segura was on the ground in the fracas.
"What happens in the clubhouse stays in the clubhouse," was the refrain echoed by multiple players when asked about the situation by The Seattle Times.
"It didn't affect anyone in here," Mariners star Robinson Cano said after a 5-3 loss to Baltimore. "We let it go. We're good. Everyone is good. We left that behind."
"Things happen in a clubhouse," Mariners manager Scott Servais told reporters after the incident. "Our guys are working through it and talking through it. It's unfortunate, but it happens. Usually there is a root problem and you have to dig in there and find out where that's at and build back relationships from there."
The manager said he has seen similar incidents.
"You're talking about 25, or now in this case now 35, of the most competitive guys you're ever going to be around and you spend basically every waking moment together all the time," he said. "I've been on a number of different teams; it's something that you will see at some point.
"Guys are emotional. It's been a long year. It happens. We move past it and get ready for tonight's game."
The Mariners, who were contending for first place in the American League West before the All-Star break, are nine games out of first place following Tuesday night's loss, trailing the Houston Astros and Oakland Athletics. They are 5½ games behind the A's for the second wild-card slot.