The Mariners reportedly had a pre-game fight in their locker room after clearing the room of media

Emotions sometimes run high in professional sports, and that sometimes even leads to fights with teammates, something we see every so often in football or hockey practices. In a baseball clubhouse, though? That’s a little stranger, but apparently that’s what some Seattle Mariners’ players got up to Tuesday while manager Scott Servais was still out on the field, with Mariners’ center fielder Dee Gordon asking media to leave and then a fight breaking out:

A fight broke out in the Mariners clubhouse about 25 minutes ago. Dee Gordon asked reporters to step out of the clubhouse and all hell broke loose shortly after.

— Curtis Crabtree (@Curtis_Crabtree) September 4, 2018

We saw bits and pieces of it and heard it. It was mostly guys in a big scrum trying to break it up. Not actually sure who or what it involved. Servais was on the field when it happened. He said he’s trying to find out all the details

— Ryan Divish (@RyanDivish) September 4, 2018

Divish, the Mariners’ beat writer for the Seattle Times, tweeted that this apparently does happen more often than you’d think, though:

This stuff happens at least once a year. We usually aren’t around to see it.

— Ryan Divish (@RyanDivish) September 4, 2018

Meanwhile, as per KJR’s Crabtree, Servais said afterwards that the fight was “unfortunate,” but “something that happens”:

“Things happens in a clubhouse. You’re talking about 25, or in this case 35, of the most competitive guys you’re ever going to be around… our guys are working through the situation. … it’s unfortunate but it’s something that happens.” – Scott Servais https://t.co/05hNtocsnP

— Curtis Crabtree (@Curtis_Crabtree) September 4, 2018

So there may not be any further discipline from this. But it’s definitely unusual to see a team involved in a playoff race doing this. The Mariners are 77-61 at the moment, and 5.5 games back of the second wild-card spot (currently held by their AL West rivals, the 83-56 Oakland A’s, who split a series with them 2-2 this past weekend). And Seattle has what looks like a pretty winnable game Tuesday night against the 40-98 Baltimore Orioles. We’ll see if the pre-game fight winds up hurting the Mariners or not.