Bautista: Hitting me in last AB of series was 'cowardly'

Jose Bautista wasn't mincing any words about the Texas Rangers.

The Toronto Blue Jays superstar believes Matt Bush hit him intentionally as revenge for his bat flip - which led to Bautista sliding hard into second, for which he was punched in the face by Rougned Odor, which set off a massive bench-clearing brawl - and called out the Rangers for waiting until his last at-bat in the teams' final meeting of 2016 to get some supposed revenge.

"I thought it was pretty cowardly of them to wait until my last at-bat to do that, in the whole series," Bautista told reporters after the contest, which the Blue Jays dropped 7-6. "It shows at least the apparent lack of leadership they have over there when it comes to playing baseball the right way. Baseball plays are supposed to be taken care of by baseball plays.

"I didn't really think it (revenge) would cross their mind to do something like that but I guess it shows a little bit of their colors," the 35-year-old added.

(Video courtesy: MLB.com)

Bautista's manager, John Gibbons - who was tossed in the third inning for arguing balls and strikes, then returned to the field during the brawl - exchanged barbs with his counterpart Jeff Banister, then expressed similar sentiments to those of his right fielder postgame.

"It was gutless," Gibbons said of the plunking. "We've played seven games (already this year). ... The other 29 teams, if they have an issue with you, they come at you right away."

When asked by reporters if he intentionally hit Bautista, Bush refused to give an answer.

In discussing his hard slide on Odor that triggered the shenanigans, Bautista explained he wasn't appreciative of being hit, and that he could have slid harder if he'd wanted to. He also admitted to being surprised by Odor's punch, and grudgingly gave a bit of credit to the second baseman - while adding another verbal barb of his own.

"He got me pretty good so I have to give him that," Bautista said. "But it takes a little bit of a bigger man, I guess, to knock me down."