Ryan O'Hearn calls out Brewers’ Pat Murphy for bizarre act after Pirates sweep

Ryan O’Hearn had no problem believing the Milwaukee Brewers pitchers who hit him did so accidentally. He had a much harder time understanding what Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy did afterward.

O’Hearn was hit by a pitch for the third consecutive game during the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 14-5 rout of the Brewers on Sunday at PNC Park. After Robert Gasser plunked him in the third inning, O’Hearn gestured toward home-plate umpire Alfonso Marquez and Milwaukee’s dugout with three fingers, emphasizing how many times he had been hit during the series.

It was an understandable display of frustration. O’Hearn had also been hit by Brandon Sproat and Shane Drohan over the previous two games, and taking a pitch off the body three days in a row would test anyone’s patience. But O’Hearn didn't charge the mound or accuse Gasser of throwing at him intentionally. He merely made his frustration known and headed toward first base.

That should have been the end of it. Instead, according to O’Hearn, Murphy followed him toward the end of the Brewers dugout and escalated the situation.

“I don’t think (Gasser) did it on purpose, just tired of getting hit three games in a row,” O’Hearn said after the game (via José Negron of DK Pittsburgh Sports). “I let out my frustration, went to first base and it was their manager, actually, who followed me down to their end of the dugout to call me names.”

Pat Murphy crossed a line with Ryan O'Hearn after Brewers meltdown

O’Hearn added that the situation had been “totally fine and handled fine” until Murphy inserted himself into it.

“Everything was totally fine and handled fine, until I got to first base and their manager followed me down to first base to call me names, which is crazy because I had a lot of respect for that guy,” O’Hearn said. “I’ve never seen it before.”

Managers defending their players is nothing new, but O’Hearn wasn't threatening Gasser or escalating the situation. He was a player who had been hit for the third time in three games and briefly expressed his irritation. Murphy apparently decided that warranted chasing him down the dugout railing and insulting him.

The Pirates ultimately delivered the more meaningful response, pounding Milwaukee pitching for 14 runs and completing a sweep of the first-place Brewers.

O’Hearn didn't need to start a confrontation to make his point. Pittsburgh handled that with its bats. Still, Murphy’s reaction left O’Hearn with a much different opinion of a manager he once respected. Based on O’Hearn’s account, it's difficult to blame him.

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