MLB Twitter has a field day reacting to bench clearing brawl between Yankees and Phillies affiliates: "More entertaining than the sport itself"

A hit by a pitch on Sunday caused a major brawl during a minor league baseball game between the Florida State League affiliates of the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies.

Pitcher Alex Bustamante of the Tampa Tarpons struck batter Erick Brito of the Clearwater Threshers in the top of the third inning, setting off the mayhem. Marty Malloy, the third-base coach for Clearwater, took issue with the pitch and had some choice words for the Tampa dugout.

"Bustamante hits his second batter, Clearwater started chirping and benches cleared. Absolutely unnecessary." - John Brophy

As the hit batter made his way down the baseline at George M. Steinbrenner Field, Threshers manager Malloy objected to the plunking and was dismissed from the game for doing so. Rick Guarno, the hitting coach for Tampa Bay, was tackled to the ground by a few Threshers players.

Here's Twitter's verdict for the Yankees-Phillies brawl.

Some fans believe that the fight was much more entertaining than the game.

"At least this is more entertaining than the sport itself"

Another fan took a dig at the coaches and wrote:

"This was clearly a Bloods vs Crips beef. But at least they stopped doing their fighting in the streets. This shows that gangs are maturing and respecting their neighbors."

"Good thing the fans didn't get involved. You'd have had a full-blown mix-up."

Another fan had something to say about the Phillies:

"We just gonna ignore how half the Phillies tripped over each other?"

"More fight than the Yankee lineup today."

Not baseball but WWE?

"Auditions for WWE"

"Gangster behaviour"

Many players dismissed after Yankees-Phillies brawl

The game was delayed for 20 minutes as a result of many players being removed from the arena. The Threshers triumphed 12-3.

John Brophy tweeted after the game:

"Some players with the Tarpons tell me that their pitching coach Gerardo Casadiego is doing OK after today’s fracas ... I’m also told that their hitting coach Rick Guarno who was tackled by some Clearwater players behind the plate is also doing ok."