Rays and Brewers get into wild brawl, with Uribe and Siri in the middle of it

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Punches were thrown when a brawl broke out between the Tampa Bay Rays and Milwaukee Brewers in the eighth inning Tuesday night.

The fracas ensued after Jose Siri grounded out against Brewers pitcher Abner Uribe leading off the inning. Uribe and Siri exchanged words near first base and things quickly became heated.

With an umpire standing between them trying to keep the peace, Uribe threw a punch at Siri, who then took a wild swing at the reliever.

Siri claimed Uribe escalated the exchange with a shoulder bump. Uribe said it began with some “unnecessary” words from Siri.

Milwaukee first baseman Rhys Hoskins tried to break up the fight but was knocked to the ground as both dugouts and bullpens emptied quickly.

“I don’t know who said something first but I saw them talking to each other somewhat discreetly and then off it went,” Hoskins said.

The animosity between Siri and the Brewers had been building all night, starting when he took a long look at his solo home run off Freddy Peralta in the third.

When Siri came up again in the sixth, Peralta drilled him with a 3-0 fastball, leading to ejections for Peralta and Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy.

“Peralta had really thrown the ball well, up to that point, commanding the baseball extremely well, so 3-0, it raises suspicion,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said.

Cash asked the umpires to discuss the situation and make a determination.

“(Siri) hit a home run in the top of the third and it was a first-pitch home run,” plate umpire and crew chief Chris Guccione told a pool reporter. “So OK, he ran the bases, whatever, and nothing was really said that we noticed. 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.”

Milwaukee went on to win 8-2.

Murphy demurred when asked for his perspective on Peralta's ejection, but Peralta denied throwing at Siri intentionally and was surprised to be ejected for the first time in his career.

“I've been in the league seven years and I've given up a lot of homers, but I've never (thrown at anybody) after that,” Peralta said. “There was no reason for me to hit him. My pitch count was really low and my goal tonight was to go deep into the game and give our bullpen a breather because they've been working a lot, so there was no reason to hit him.”

A previous version of this story was corrected to show that Siri’s home run came in the third inning.

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Tampa Bay Rays' Jose Siri rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run during the third inning of a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Aaron Gash)

Tampa Bay Rays' Jose Siri gestures after hitting a solo home run during the third inning of a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Aaron Gash)

Tampa Bay Rays' Jose Siri reacts after being hit by a pitch during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Aaron Gash)

Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy, middle, walks back to the dugout with Rickie Weeks Jr., left, after being ejected during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Tampa Bay Rays Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Aaron Gash)

Milwaukee Brewers' Freddy Peralta, right, reacts after being ejected during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Tampa Bay Rays Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Aaron Gash)

Milwaukee Brewers' manager Pat Murphy, right, argues with umpire Chris Guccione during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Tampa Bay Rays Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Aaron Gash)

Milwaukee Brewers' Abner Uribe, left, and Tampa Bay Rays' Jose Siri exchange words during the eighth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Aaron Gash)

Milwaukee Brewers' Abner Uribe (45) is held back by Quintin Berry (33) as he fights with Tampa Bay Rays' Jose Siri (22) during the eighth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Aaron Gash)

Tampa Bay Rays' Jose Siri, left, fights with Milwaukee Brewers' Abner Uribe, middle, during the eighth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Aaron Gash)

Tampa Bay Rays' Jose Siri (22) fights with Milwaukee Brewers' Abner Uribe, middle, during the eighth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Aaron Gash)

Tampa Bay Rays' Jose Siri (22) fights with Milwaukee Brewers' Abner Uribe, middle, during the eighth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Aaron Gash)

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Germany’s foreign minister arrived in Kyiv on Tuesday in the latest public display of support for Ukraine by its Western partners, although deliveries of promised weapons and ammunition from NATO countries like Germany have been slow and have left Ukraine vulnerable to a recent Russian push along parts of the front line.

Annalena Baerbock renewed Berlin’s calls for partners to send more air defense systems, as Russia pounds Ukraine with missiles, glide bombs and rockets. Germany is the second-biggest supplier of military aid to Ukraine after the United States.

Ukraine’s depleted troops are trying to hold off a fierce Russian offensive along the eastern border in one of the most critical phases of the war, which is stretching into its third year.

Germany recently pledged a third U.S.-made Patriot battery for Ukraine, but Kyiv officials say they are still facing an alarming shortfall of air defenses against the Russian onslaught.

The Kremlin's forces have used their advantage in the skies to debilitate Ukraine's power grid, hoping to sap Ukrainian morale and disrupt its defense industry.

Baerbock, accompanied by Ukrainian Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko, toured a thermal power plant in central Ukraine that was heavily damaged on April 11. In the plant’s scorched interior, workers of Centrenergo, a state company that operates the plant, were still scooping up rubble several weeks after it was hit.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Kremlin’s forces are still focusing their efforts on the eastern Donetsk province and northeastern Kharkiv region, where explosive-laden Russian glide bombs are wreaking destruction on military and civilian areas.

“This brings us back again and again to the need for air defense — for additional defense systems that could significantly mitigate the difficulties for our warriors and the threat to our cities and communities,” Zelenskyy said late Monday on social media.

Zelenskyy claimed Ukraine’s forces are still in control of the contested areas, though Russia says it has captured a series of border villages.

It was not possible to independently verify either side's battlefield claims.

Baerbock had planned to visit Kharkiv on Tuesday but the trip had to be called off for security reasons, German news agency dpa reported. Almost 11,000 people have been evacuated from Kharkiv border areas since Russia launched its offensive actions there on May 10.

A Russian overnight drone attack hit transport infrastructure in Kharkiv city, the regional capital, damaging over 25 trucks, buses, and other vehicles, regional Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said Tuesday. Seven people were injured, he said.

Ukraine’s general staff said the frequency of Russian attacks in Kharkiv slowed on Monday, though fighting continued.

Russian troops are also conducting reconnaissance and sabotage raids in Ukraine’s northern Sumy and Chernihiv regions, shelling border settlements and laying more minefields, according to Dmytro Lykhovii, Ukraine’s general staff spokesman. The front line is some 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) long.

Baerbock was due to meet with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in Kyiv. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has been resisting appeals from Ukrainian officials to provide Taurus missiles, which are equipped with stealth technology and have a range of up to 500 kilometers (300 miles).

The German- and Swedish-made missiles would be able to reach targets deep in Russia from Ukrainian soil. But Berlin has balked at that prospect, saying that sending the missiles would bring a risk of it becoming directly involved in the war.

The restriction on not allowing Ukraine to fire at Russia has denied Kyiv the ability to strike at Russian troops and equipment massing for attacks on the other side of the border, a Washington-based think tank said.

“These U.S. and Western policies are severely compromising Ukraine’s ability to defend itself against current Russian offensive operations in northern Kharkiv (region) or any area along the international border where Russian forces may choose to conduct offensive operations in the future,” the Institute for the Study of War said in an assessment late Monday.

Baerbock said in a statement that Ukraine’s prospective membership of the European Union is “the necessary geopolitical consequence of Russia’s illegal war of aggression.”

Ukraine has made “impressive progress” and must not let up in reforms to the judicial system, in fighting corruption and on media freedom, she said.

Germany will host a reconstruction conference for Ukraine next month. Rebuilding the country is predicted to cost hundreds of billions of dollars.

Geir Moulson contributed to this report from Berlin.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

German's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock speaks to Ukrainian Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko during official visit to a thermal power plant which was destroyed by a Russian rocket attack in Ukraine, Tuesday, May 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Police officers inspect the site of the Russian missile attack, with a dead body in the foreground, in the outskirts of Kharkiv, Ukraine, Sunday, May 19, 2024. The missile hit a recreation area, killing five including one pregnant, and injuring 16. (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko)

A woman cries as police officers inspect the site of the Russian missile attack that hit a recreation area killing five including one pregnant, injuring 16 in the outskirts of Kharkiv, Ukraine, Sunday, May 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko)

Destroyed resort compound is seen from above after a Russian rocket attack near Kharkiv, Ukraine, Sunday, May 19, 2024. According to officials, several people were killed in this attack. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)