Benches clear after Pham, Heineman exchange words in Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH -- Tensions flared between Pirates outfielder Tommy Pham and Blue Jays catcher Tyler Heineman on Monday night at PNC Park, and while the waters quickly calmed after the benches cleared, there was still a mix of confusion and emotion after the game.

Shortly after the Pirates took the lead in the seventh inning of their eventual 5-2 win Monday, Pham walked on four straight pitches, but the mood shifted when he flicked his wrist and flipped his bat to the ground in front of Heineman with a little extra spice.

It didn’t look like there was much of a conversation between the two amid all the chaos, but once Pham took a step back towards Heineman, teammates were bolting from the dugouts just in case.

“He didn’t say a word to me. I didn’t say a word to him. He just looked like he wanted to have a fight,” Heineman said. “I asked the umpire on the 2-0 pitch, ‘You got that just off? It was pretty close right there.’ He looked at me and didn’t say a word, then he bat flipped and looked straight at me. I just put up my arms and he walked towards me. I don’t really know.”

The Blue Jays’ veteran backup catcher added that he “barely knew who he is” and seemed completely surprised by how it played out, given that the two have zero prior history.

“It was weird, man," Heineman said. "It was weird. It was unprovoked and super weird. I wouldn’t have said anything, but I didn’t really like how he flipped the bat on a four-pitch walk. Little weird. Then he looked right back at me. The video can probably tell you everything, but you’re probably just as confused as I am.”

Pham chimed in later Monday night, sharing his side of the altercation in reply to a post containing some of these quotes from Heineman.

"[Complaining] about a ball not being called a strike to the umpire when it’s clearly below the zone and away is disrespectful not only to the umpire but the hitter as well," Pham said in a reply on X to an MLB.com reporter. "... I know the zone."

While this all seemed to come out of nowhere for those watching, there had been a different variety of tension earlier in the game when Blue Jays manager John Schneider was ejected by home-plate umpire Mark Ripperger. He made sure to get his money’s worth before eventually exiting, too.

This meant that by the time the benches cleared, Schneider was stuck watching from his office.

“I’m not worried about Tommy Pham’s opinion about anything, really,” Schneider said. “I’m worried about our defense, I’m worried about our at-bats and I’m worried about our pitching. That happens in the heat of the moment. We have to worry about us. I haven’t talked to Heineman yet about it, that happened when I was [ejected], but I’m really not worried about what Tommy Pham thinks about anyone.”

Schneider liked how his team eventually handled the mess, though, including George Springer and Ty France, who walked Pham up nearly the entire length of the first-base line, looking like they were trying to diffuse the situation.

Across the diamond, Pirates manager Don Kelly, much like Schneider, was eager to move past it.

“I think it was just a little miscommunication there at home plate,” Kelly said with a smile.

First pitch Tuesday is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. ET, with Max Scherzer facing Mitch Keller.