Former Astros OF at center of controversy in ugly Brewers-Rays brawl on Tuesday night

While the Houston Astros were celebrating their third straight win on Tuesday night, one of the team's former outfielders was involved in a rather ugly benches-clearing brawl in Milwaukee.

What started as simple groundball out in the top of the eighth inning ended with the dugouts and bullpens emptied as former Astros centerfielder Jose Siri got into an altercation with Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Abner Uribe.

When all the dust had settled both Siri and Uribe, both of whom were throwing punches, were ejected. But it was what happened earlier in the game that set the events in motion, and Siri was in the middle of the controversy.

Former Astros OF Jose Siri at center of controversy in ugly Brewers-Rays brawl

It was Siri's 450-foot titanic blast in the top of the third inning that got the whole thing started. Did Siri admire his work a little bit too much? You be the judge, but it really didn't seem as though the former Astros outfielder was showing up Brewers' starter Freddy Peralta.

Honestly, it's questionable as to whether or not Peralta even took issue with Siri's posturing after the homer. But in the sixth inning, a 3-0 pitch got away from the Milwaukee starter and struck Siri in the leg. Did Peralta purposefully try to hit Siri? Typically, if a pitcher is going to throw at opposing hitter, it's the first, not the fourth pitch of the at-bat.

But the umpires saw it differently and crew chief Chris Guccione decided to eject Peralta from the game. That, of course, incensed Brewers' manager Pat Murphy who was eventually tossed as well.

Then came the dustup between Siri and Uribe. After Siri grounded out in the eighth inning, Uribe and Siri bumped shoulders and exchanged words. Uribe then took a swing at Siri and it was on. Multiple punches were thrown, but few, if any, actually landed. The fight was broken up by members of the Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays, and both Siri and Uribe were both ejected.

Major League Baseball suspended Siri for three games. The Brewers eventually won the game 8-2 and the two teams will meet again on Wednesday for the series finale at American Family Field.

Siri was traded to the Rays in 2022 in order to help Tampa Bay offset the injuries to Kevin Kiermaier and Manuel Margot. That three-team trade also saw Houston give up pitching prospect Chayce McDermott in exchange for Trey Mancini and Jayden Murray. It's not exactly the best trade the Astros have ever made, but none of those players involved have gone on to have an All-Star campaign just yet.

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