MILWAUKEE -- Brewers manager Pat Murphy said antics on the mound by Milwaukee reliever Abner Uribe after an inning-ending strikeout in a 6-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday night were unacceptable.
Uribe got Alec Burleson on a called third strike with two outs and runners on first and second in the eighth, the only inning he pitched. Uribe then made three WWE-style crotch chops while facing the Cardinals dugout.
The Cardinals challenged the call, which was close, but narrowly confirmed to be at the bottom of the strike zone.
"I don't know what got over him. I mean, he's been an emotional guy, but that kind of thing, that's just not how we do things," Murphy said. "I was embarrassed by it. Why are we doing it? It's a 6-0 game. What are we doing there?"
"I love the kid. Believe me, I love the kid," Murphy continued. "There's so much good in this kid. He's been so great for us in so many ways, but that's unacceptable. So, whatever's going on, you can't tolerate that. For his teammates, and for everything, it's not going to be tolerated, that's all there is to it."
Murphy said he already talked with Uribe. Murphy also realized how close the pitch was to being overturned and the possible ramifications.
"The thing that I think about is if that challenge got overturned, you've got to reset and go back out there and pitch," Murphy said. "This is Major League Baseball. Guys can reset, boom, base hit, dumper, homer, and all of a sudden it's 6-5."
Uribe apologized through an interpreter but also directed some of the blame toward the Cardinals.
"Everyone here knows me and knows who I am, and knows I have a bit of a history of being emotional out there," Uribe said. "I think first I owe an apology to the Brewers. I owe an apology to my teammates, to my manager, all the bosses of the team. I understand that's unacceptable, to go out there and react in a way like that.
"But at the same time, I don't think it's unprofessional for their manager to be making signs towards our dugout saying that he's going to be hitting guys," Uribe said. "There was an event that occurred during the practice today, too, and I don't think that was right. So, I have my teammates' back always."
Uribe declined to elaborate on the event but said St. Louis manager Oliver Marmol was gesturing during Tuesday's game, making Uribe think it was to intentionally hit Brewers batters.
Marmol did not comment afterward on Uribe's antics on the mound.
"It looked like their team and Murph was handling it on their side," Marmol said. "That's their player. We'll handle ours."
At the time, however, Marmol was not aware of Uribe's accusation.
Earlier in the eighth inning, Uribe and Cardinals catcher Iván Herrera briefly exchanged words after Uribe threw one fastball high and tight.
"It's not fun if you throw a 2-0 heater in here up to your head. I said, 'Keep it down,' and he started laughing," Herrera said, according to MLB.com. "I didn't do anything crazy. ... I feel like it was just disrespectful to the entire team, what he did. I hope we take care of it and we move on.
"It's just part of the game, but I don't think you can do that to a whole team. If you have an issue with me, you come tell me. You had the chance to do that to me, I was at second [base], and you didn't, so don't disrespect our team. We're not going to do that, so you know, go from there."
Uribe was suspended for six games and fined following a benches-clearing brawl against the Tampa Bay Rays in April 2024.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.