Brewers, Cubs clear benches after McCutchen plunked

The benches cleared between the Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago Cubs on Saturday during the eighth inning after Andrew McCutchen was hit by a pitch from reliever Keegan Thompson.

Thompson, who pitched inside on the previous offering to McCutchen, was ejected from the game.

The incident mostly seemed to amount to shouting between McCutchen and catcher Willson Contreras, while Chicago outfielder Jason Heyward also sprinted in to get involved.

The Cubs wound up winning 9-0, with Scott Effross replacing Thompson to finish the eighth and Ethan Roberts converting the ninth.

"Everybody and their mom knew, when I came up to bat, I was going to get hit," McCutchen said postgame, according to Will Sammon of The Athletic.

"We all knew it was coming, but it was a matter of how you do it. ... I know they have some guys over there who aren't afraid to do it. And they'll do it right away. They won't wait around. Maybe have one of those guys. And I'll be the first to tell you: I ain't going to fight anyone, either. ... I just said, 'Hey, good job, you finally did it.'"

The former MVP and five-time All-Star was the fourth batter of five hit by a pitch in the contest between the NL Central division rivals. Cubs hitters Contreras, Nick Madrigal, and Ian Happ were all hit by Brewers pitchers earlier in the game, while Christian Yelich was plunked by Effross in the final frame. Happ was removed from the matchup after he was hit in the knee and visibly in pain during the seventh inning.

Early last year, Ryan Tepera - then with the Cubs - was suspended for intentionally hitting Brewers starter Brandon Woodruff.