Tommy Pham causes most hilarious benches-clearing incident during Pirates-Blue Jays

The Pittsburgh Pirates might not have anything to play for in 2025, but they at least have the chance to spoil another team's fortunes. And why the heck not? Pittsburgh's been through enough with this team. Take on these bad vibes, opponent!

On Monday night with the Toronto Blue Jays in town, Tommy Pham decided to take things up a notch. In the bottom of the seventh inning with a runner on second and the Pirates leading 3-2, Pham worked a walk against Brendan Little after four straight balls.

When Little's sinker missed low for ball four, Pham watched the ball dip below the zone and then flipped his bat right in front of catcher Tyler Heineman, which resulted in the two exchanging words. A bat flip. On a walk. To put runners on first and second. In the seventh inning. During a game with almost zero implications.

How about that for the dog days of summer! As Pham and Heineman jawed at one another, the home plate umpire separated the two, but then the benches cleared in an instant. The bullpens emptied. The crowd started to get rowdy. This is August baseball.

Blue Jays fans in shambles after Pirates' Tommy Pham bat flips after a walk

The Pirates' broadcast speculated that the incident escalated because Heineman had some words for the umpire the pitch prior. The Blue Jays catcher believed it to be a strike and wasn't happy about it being called a ball.

Pham seemed to have taken exception to that, motioning that the pitch was outside. Then Pham was further empowered by the ball four call and Heineman had to deal with the unfortunate reality. As for Blue Jays fans? They can't handle it. They are melting down in full force on social media. The crowd at PNC Park further instigated by chanting "USA, USA!".

The Pirates have since tacked on two insurance runs due to defensive malfeasance on the part of Toronto. The Jays have made three errors on the night, including two in the bottom of the eighth to fall further behind. You do not want to be dropping games against the Pirates in mid-August when you're fighting to hold onto first place in the AL East.

Seems like Pham did his job, doesn't it? Yeah, we get why you're mad, Toronto.