The Astros had a brilliant answer to the Mariners hitting Jose Altuve on the first pitch

Earlier this season, the Seattle Mariners were involved in the biggest baseball brawl we’ve seen in years. And on Sunday, they were fortunate to avoid a similar scene in Houston.

Mariners All-Star rookie outfielder Julio Rodriguez was placed on the 10-day Injured List after he was hit on the right hand by a pitch mid-swing in Saturday’s game. Though X-rays were negative and the pitch clearly wasn’t intentional, the Mariners didn’t exactly take a subtle approach to retribution in Sunday’s game.

With George Kirby on the mound for Seattle, Astros star Jose Altuve was hit up high with a 95 mph fastball on the very first pitch Houston saw in the game.

Altuve went down for a few seconds before returning to his feet, nodding that he was OK. It certainly appeared to be retaliation for Rodriguez’s injury, and Yuli Gurriel avoided a high-and-tight pitch the following at-bat.

The game easily could have gotten out of hand at that point, but the Astros instead used the free baserunner to their advantage. Later in the inning, Altuve would score on a perfectly executed double steal of home.

MLB fans had plenty of thoughts on the whole sequence as well.