MILWAUKEE (AP) — Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy said antics on the mound by Brewers reliever Abner Uribe after an inning-ending strikeout in a 6-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday night were unacceptable.
Uribe got Alec Burleson on a called third strike with two outs and runners on first and second in the eighth, the only inning he pitched. Uribe then made three WWE-style crotch chops while facing the Cardinals dugout.
The Cardinals challenged the call, which was close, but narrowly confirmed to be at the bottom of the strike zone.
“I don’t know what got over him. I mean, he’s been an emotional guy, but that kind of things, that’s just not how we do things,” Murphy said. “I was embarrassed by it. Why are we doing it? It’s a 6-0 game. What are we doing there?”
“I love the kid. Believe me, I love the kid,” Murphy continued. “There’s so much good in this kid. He’s been so great for us in so many ways, but that’s unacceptable. So, whatever’s going on, you can’t tolerate that. For his teammates, and for everything, it’s not going to be tolerated, that’s all there is to it.”
Murphy said he already talked with Uribe. Murphy also realized how close the pitch was to being overturned and the possible ramifications.
“The thing that I think about is if that challenge got overturned, you’ve got to reset and go back out there and pitch,” Murphy said. “This is Major League Baseball. Guys can reset, boom, base hit, dumper, homer, and all of a sudden it’s 6-5.”
Uribe apologized through an interpreter, but also directed some of the blame toward the Cardinals.
“Everyone here knows me and knows who I am, and knows I have a bit of a history of being emotional out there,” Uribe said. “I think first I owe an apology to the Brewers. I owe an apology to my teammates, to my manager, all the bosses of the team. I understand that’s unacceptable, to go out there and react in a way like that.”
“But at the same time, I don’t think it’s unprofessional for their manager to be making signs towards our dugout saying that he’s going to be hitting guys,” Uribe said. “There was an event that occurred during the practice today, too, and I don’t think that was right. So, I have my teammates’ back always.”
Uribe declined to elaborate on the event, and said St. Louis manager Oliver Marmol was making signs during Monday’s game that led Uribe to believe it was to hit Brewers batters.
Marmol did not comment afterward on Uribe’s antics on the mound.
“It looked like their team and Murph was handling it on their side,” Marmol said. “That’s their player. We’ll handle ours.”
At the time, however, Marmol was not aware of Uribe’s accusation.
Uribe was suspended for six games and fined following a benches-clearing brawl against the Tampa Bay Rays in April 2024.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Milwaukee Brewers' Abner Uribe gestures during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals, Tuesday, May 26, 2026, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Aaron Gash)
Milwaukee Brewers' Abner Uribe gestures during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals, Tuesday, May 26, 2026, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Aaron Gash)
It's been a very simple formula for the San Antonio Spurs in these Western Conference finals. When Victor Wembanyama has been the best player on the floor, they win. When he isn't, they lose.
He wasn't the best player on the floor Tuesday night.
That was not the only reason why the Spurs fell to the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 5 of the West finals — there were many — but it was certainly among them. Wembanyama, who has had 41-point and 33-point outings in winning efforts during the series, never seemed to get fully rolling and the Spurs lost 127-114.
Now down 3-2 in the series, they'll try to extend the matchup — and save their season — in Game 6 at San Antonio on Thursday night.
Wembanyama scored 20 points, his lowest of the series, and only a 12-for-12 effort from the foul line helped him get there in Game 5. He was 4 for 15 from the floor, missing all five of his 3-point tries, never seeming to get into any sort of rhythm.
“He’s got to take more than 15 shots, even with the free throws,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said in his postgame news conference in Oklahoma City. “He’s going to have to score more than 20 points, for sure. ... OKC did a good job. We’ve got to do a better job.”
Wembanyama did not speak with reporters after the game.
The first halves have told much of the story. In San Antonio's two wins in this series, Wembanyama has gone 7-for-15 and 6-for-11 from the field. In the three losses, his halftime shot numbers — 2-for-4, 2-for-5 and 2-for-6, the last of those what he did in the first two quarters on Tuesday.
Wembanyama offered an impassioned speech to teammates during a timeout barely two minutes into the third quarter, after the Thunder opened an 18-point lead. And it worked — to a point. Oklahoma City scored again to get the lead up to 20, but the Spurs closed within eight later in the third.
It seemed like there was hope. But the Spurs didn't get any closer. The deficit was 10 going into the fourth, the Spurs scored only two points in the first 4:02 of the final quarter, and whatever momentum that seemed like it was building after Wembanyama's timeout speech appeared to be gone.
And on a night in which the Thunder just kept throwing different bodies — Isaiah Hartenstein, Chet Holmgren, Jaylin Williams, Alex Caruso and more — along with different looks at Wembanyama, the 7-foot-4 French star just didn't have enough answers.
“It's a team defense,” Thunder guard Jared McCain said. “We talked about it. We made adjustments to it. We know that when he gets going, their whole team gets going."
Obviously, the Spurs know what's coming from the Thunder on Thursday — more of the same. San Antonio has two days to figure out how to counter.
“I think they sent so many bodies towards him, it’s hard at times,” Spurs guard Stephon Castle said. “I think he just wants to make the right play and wants to win. ... He’s our best player. We need him to be aggressive. I feel like him being aggressive opens up shots for other guys.”
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
Oklahoma City Thunder center Chet Holmgren (7) makes a basket against San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) in the second half of Game 5 in the Western Conference finals NBA basketball playoffs series, Tuesday, May 26, 2026, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) and Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) vie for a loose ball in the first half of Game 5 in the Western Conference finals NBA basketball playoffs series, Tuesday, May 26, 2026, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) moves against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second half of Game 5 in the Western Conference finals NBA basketball playoffs series, Tuesday, May 26, 2026, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Gerald Leong)
San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) moves on the court against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second half of Game 5 in the Western Conference finals NBA basketball playoffs series, Tuesday, May 26, 2026, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) moves on the court against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second half of Game 5 in the Western Conference finals NBA basketball playoffs series, Tuesday, May 26, 2026, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
