And now, a story in three acts with Houston Astros reliever Phil Maton.
The pitcher threw in the Astros’ final regular-season game, giving up two runs.
The thing is: That outing came against the Philadelphia Phillies. And that’s the team that rosters his brother, Nick.
Nick ended up getting a hit off Phil, and Phil did NOT looked pleased about it. The appearance itself wasn’t a good one altogether with the two runs given up, but here’s where it takes a turn: Phil punched a locker, had surgery on his hand and will miss the rest of the postseason.
It’s a huge bummer, and Phil talked about it on Tuesday:
Phil Maton’s right hand is in a cast after surgery yesterday. He punched his locker after his last outing because he “was upset,” calling it a “selfish” move and is hopeful it won’t affect the Astros going forward. pic.twitter.com/U2gm5qqzED
— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) October 11, 2022
Here’s Nick’s hit off Phil:
Nick Maton got a hit off his brother Phil and their reactions were priceless 😂 pic.twitter.com/hQ30mNEs9p
— Baseball Bros (@BaseballBros) October 5, 2022
Note that Phil didn’t say the punch was explicitly due to giving up the hit to his brother: “I was upset with how my outing went. Kind of a short-sighted move and ultimately it was selfish.”