That brutal Rangers-Blue Jays brawl was 7 months in the making

Rangers and Blue Jays get into huge fight.

(Image credit: Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

A baseball game almost broke out at Sunday's Texas Rangers-Toronto Blue Jays fight. This punch was seven months in the making:

Let's back up. The Jays' José Bautista knocked the Rangers out of the 2015 playoffs with a go-ahead three-run homer in Game 5 of the American League Division Series. The Rangers were none too thrilled with Bautista's subsequent bat flip.

Fast forward to Bautista's last 2016 regular season at-bat against the Rangers. Texas relief pitcher Matt Bush got the honors of (unintentionally, of course) nailing Bautista with a fastball to the arm in the eighth inning. The fight was only getting started, as Bautista seized his chance on a ground ball to slide hard — and late and illegally — into Rangers second baseman Rougned Odor, who we then see delivering the brutal punch above.

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Here's a better look:

Everyone got pretty into this brawl.

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Oh, and not that it matters, but the Rangers won 7-6.

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Julie Kliegman is a freelance writer based in New York. Her work has appeared in BuzzFeed, Vox, Mental Floss, Paste, the Tampa Bay Times and PolitiFact. Her cats can do somersaults.