Pirates reliever Dennis Santana tries to fight a fan, gets called into the game immediately after

Typical Thursday for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Paul Skenes dominated on the mound, the bullpen blew it and handed him a no decision, and oh…reliever Dennis Santana tried to fight a fan in the stands before entering the game. Business as usual for the Buccos, right?

Before pitching in the second game of a doubleheader against the Tigers, Santana got into it with a fan at Comerica Park. Video shows him pointing out someone leaning over the bullpen, then getting up and swatting at the guy before being pulled back.

There was even a security guard-like figure standing there, trying to defuse things, but that didn’t stop Santana from trying to go full Ron Artest.

Dennis Santana swings at Pirates fan

We almost had the baseball version of Malice at the Palace tonight in Detroit
pic.twitter.com/1r3Zbjk0ZJ

— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) June 20, 2025

Also shoutout to the grounds crew guy seen raking the mound like absolutely nothing happened. The man saw a reliever lunge at a fan and was like, “not my problem,” and went right back to leveling dirt. Professionalism at its finest.

Also, I didn’t predict that the video would feature friendly fire. How is a kid in a Roberto Clemente jersey chirping his own team’s bullpen so badly that a reliever actually would try to swing on him?

That doesn’t make a lick of sense but we’re also talking about the Pirates’ fanbase, who at this point, must be completely fed up with the organization for putting a pile of slop on the diamond every night but my issue here is that Dennis Santana is actually good.

Santana is rocking a 1.74 ERA in 31 appearances, has only five walks, and has been one of the few bright spots in Pittsburgh’s bullpen. Which makes you wonder… why was he the target? A guy with a sub-2 ERA and short pants?

I feel like we’re missing something.

Dennis Santana are we serious???? @espn pic.twitter.com/8XywEyTZtO

— Spencer Torkelson Believer (@TorkBeliever) June 20, 2025

Regardless, Dennis Santana still pitched…lol

You would think the Pirates would maybe sit him down for the rest of the night after trying to climb into the stands. Nope. Ninth inning comes around and there’s Dennis Santana on the mound like nothing happened.

I wish the call to the pen was wire tapped:

“Hey is Dennis good to go?”

“Well, technically yes. He just tried to punch a fan but missed.”

“Cool. Let’s warm him up.”

Only the Pirates could treat a bullpen meltdown and a near player-fan fight as business as usual. You thought the usher brawl from last month was going to be rock bottom for the year?

Not even close. We’ve now graduated to “reliever tries to fight fan before entering a tie game.”

Punches and spitting at a Pirate Game. Who is in the wrong? @KDKA pic.twitter.com/TPc28vp998

— BarryPintarKDKA (@BarryPintarNews) May 6, 2025

The Pirates may not win much, but they are never boring so at least they have that going for them, right?

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