There are hard, even late, clean slides and there are hard, late, dirty slides. Colby Rasmus' slide in the fourth inning of Wednesday night's Tigers win was spikes up, so late he wound up feet from the bag and thus, I'm arguing that it was dirty.
Below is a screen cap of the dirty slide:
Here's a GIF via SB Nation:
Rasmus wound up more than an arm's length away from second base after the slide. Omar Infante wound up on the ground, writhing in pain, and ultimately under an X-ray machine while the game continued without him. X-rays were negative, but at least one person thinks Infante may wind up on the DL.
Most of the Tigers were not happy to say the least. In the sixth inning, Torii Hunter took out his anger on Todd Redmond, by jawing at him after being plunked by an 0-2 (unintentional) inside fastball, inciting both benches and bullpens to empty.
Max Scherzer, the first 13-0 pitcher since Roger Clemens in 1986, said after the game that he thinks Rasmus should be suspended:
Scherzer on Rasmus: “He should be suspended … We’re really mad about that slide.”
— Jason Beck (@beckjason) July 4, 2013
Colby Rasmus thinks his slide is "part of the game" and seems ready to get hit by a pitch on Thursday, because "that's part of the game too." Of course, this isn't Rasmus' first rodeo.
Justin Verlander is on the bump Thursday, but I don't expect him to retaliate given the absurd Rick Porcello six-game suspension and the Tigers being under the microscope.
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