Willson Contreras hits Cardinals coach in face with bat toss during meltdown after correctly called strike 3

ASSOCIATED PRESS

This is quite the meltdown.

St. Louis Cardinals designated hitter Willson Contreras lost his cool Monday night after striking out against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Following an exchange with home plate umpire Derek Thomas, he threw a tantrum that's certain to draw the attention of the MLB office.

The incident took place in the bottom of the seventh inning as the Cardinals held a 6-5 lead with a runner on first base and Contreras at the plate with one out. 

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Contreras throws bat, hits Cardinals coach in face

Thomas correctly called strike three on an 0-2 fastball that Yohan Ramírez threw over the middle of the plate at Contreras' knees. At first, Contreras appeared to accept his fate as he walked immediately toward the dugout after watching the ball cross home plate. 

But he looked back at Thomas as he walked away, and chaos ensued. Broadcast cameras didn't catch what immediately happened next. But things had escalated by the time they focused back on Contreras.

Contreras was heated as he spoke with Thomas, who'd walked toward the dugout to engage with him. Contreras then got in Thomas' face and started yelling before being restrained by Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol.

By this time, Contreras had been ejected. Bench coach Daniel Descalso put his arms around Contreras and pulled him toward the dugout as Contreras continued to protest, bat still in hand. Before Contreras made it to the dugout, he threw his bat back toward the scrum of people. It hit another Cardinals staffer in the face.

When Contreras finally made it to the dugout, he found a bucket of candy and threw it on the the field. 

What set Contreras off?

Here are the pitches that proceeded his tirade. Contreras watched two correctly called strikes and swung at another that was outside. 

It wasn't immediately clear what set Contreras off. But it shouldn't have been those strike calls. Not that there's ever an excuse to wildly throw a bat toward a group of people.