Cabrera Riles 'Em Up, Then Sheffield Takes Him Out

Tigers 8, Orioles 4

DETROIT, April 30 -- Gary Sheffield sent his first message to Daniel Cabrera with a violent, almost barbaric swing, which he used to belt a fastball into the left field stands, 408 feet from home plate. The two-run, fifth-inning blast proved pivotal in the Detroit Tigers' 8-4 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Monday night, but his next message truly rankled.

As an exclamation to the bad blood that had simmered -- and then bubbled over in the form of emptying dugouts and bullpens -- earlier in the game, Sheffield tossed aside his bat and stood at home plate for a moment, admiring the flight of the ball. Then he walked slowly down the first base line, a strut that lasted about 35 feet.

"I was told by Dave Parker, 'When you hit one like that, you can look at it,' " Sheffield said.

As he sauntered around the bases, Cabrera stared at him the entire time, mirroring Sheffield's revolution around the base paths with a menacing stroll around the mound. It was not the first time they had squared off in this, the Orioles' seventh loss in eight games.

The fun started back in the third inning, when Cabrera plunked Sheffield in the small of the back. Given Cabrera's control -- he had already walked five batters -- the pitch may not have meant much under normal circumstances. But during Miguel Tejada's first at-bat Monday, he felt Jeremy Bonderman had pitched him too far inside, as he felt the Tigers did in a previous series, too.

"I just told my pitcher, 'Make sure you pitch them the same way they pitch me,' " Tejada said.

And flash back to April 11 at Camden Yards: Justin Verlander hit Tejada in the third. Adhering to the you-hit-ours-we-hit-yours culture of baseball, Adam Loewen responded and drilled Sheffield in the fifth. Both benches were warned by the home plate umpire and, after the game, Orioles Manager Sam Perlozzo grinned slyly and said: "I don't know that he did that on purpose. I can't tell you that."

So given the recent history and the two-out, no-runners situation he found himself in, Tejada had to know what was coming when he dug in against Bonderman in the fifth. But he didn't have to like it.

"They obviously thought Danny was throwing at Sheff," Perlozzo said.

Bonderman performed his duty, sort of, throwing a ball at Tejada's feet. Still, Tejada waved his bat at Bonderman from the batter's box. Ivan Rodriguez objected by stepping in front of Tejada.

"I'm in his face, too," Tejada said. "I'm ready to fight. I'm ready to fight with them. What can I do? There's nothing more I can do. I was in the middle of the fight, I've got to be ready for something to happen."

Players charged from both dugouts and relievers streamed in from the bullpens. Orioles third base coach Juan Samuel, a coach with Detroit from 1999 to 2005, inserted himself in the center of the fray. Things settled, then Tigers reliever Joel Zumaya tried to pick a fight with seemingly the entire Orioles organization.

Things nearly settled once more, but then Sheffield pointed in Tejada's face. The finger-waving riled the 6-foot-9, 270-pound Cabrera, who started yelling at Sheffield. "I've got hit a couple times by them," Sheffield said. "You try to stay professional and not let emotions get the best of you. I got drilled and I didn't say a word. We didn't initiate anything. When Cabrera started chirping, that's when I said something."

The two exchanged verbal jabs, then Cabrera, who declined to comment afterward, tried to run at Sheffield before Orioles reserve Freddie Bynum (6-1, 190) held him back.

Then it ended how most baseball fights do: No one was hit, with either a fist or, in this case, a pitch. But a tenor had been set by the time Sheffield came to bat in the bottom of the inning. He took two balls and hammered a foul ball down the left field line. Then he destroyed Cabrera's next offering, getting the last word.

"If there was one guy I had to pick," Perlozzo said of Sheffield, "it wouldn't be him."