Cincinnati — Nick Castellanos stood over, flexed and jawed at St. Louis pitcher Jake Woodford after scoring, setting off a series of scuffles that included relievers shoving in the outfield as the Cincinnati Reds beat the Cardinals 9-6 Saturday.
St. Louis starter Adam Wainwright was knocked around for six runs and chased in the third. The next inning, the teams started tagging each other.
Castellanos, a former Tiger who homered on opening day and hopped out of the box before tossing his bat, was plunked by Woodford with two outs and none on in the fourth. Castellanos retrieved the ball and offered to toss it back to Woodford before flipping it out of play.
A wild pitch soon sent Castellanos scampering home from third and he scored with a headfirst slide for a 7-2 lead as he bumped into Woodford, who took the throw from catcher Yadier Molina at the plate.
As Castellanos began walking away, Molina rushed up and tapped him from behind, and the benches and bullpens emptied in a wild scene.
There was more pushing and shoving before order seemed to be restored. But as relief pitchers for both teams were heading back to their bullpens, they tangled in the outfield.
Castellanos was the only player ejected. Aristides Aquino replaced Castellanos and led off the sixth inning with a home run.
Tucker Barnhart’s two-run homer ignited a six-run third for the Reds.
Tyler Mahle (1-0) struck out nine in five innings, allowing two earned runs.
Paul DeJong hit two solo home runs for St. Louis. Nolan Arenado connected for his first home run with the Cardinals.
Wainwright (0-1) lasted only 2 2/3 innings and gave up five earned runs and seven hits.
Back in 2010, the Cardinals and Reds got into a major brawl at Cincinnati. Molina and Brandon Phillips began barking at the plate and eventually Reds pitcher Johnny Cueto got pinned against the backstop and tried to kick his way out.