Kris Bryant diffused a potential benches-clearing brawl by starting a tickle fight instead

NBC Sports Chicago

Both the Chicago Cubs and Miami Marlins roared out of the dugouts on Tuesday night after a short scuffle at home plate, but the situation quickly diffused with the help of some light-hearted tickling from Kris Bryant.

• The Chicago Cubs and Miami Marlins got into what looked to be a benches-clearing brawl on Tuesday night after a contentious play at the plate.
• Instead of throwing punches, Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant decided to tickle his former teammate Starlin Castro, quickly bringing smiles to the self-serious scene.
• Bryant would later go on to score the game-winning run for the Cubs.

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Brawls are a part of baseball. The enforcement of the unwritten rules of the sport, anything from a bat flip to a pitch too close inside can quickly prompt both teams to rise out from the dugout and get into each other's faces.

These brawls can have mixed results. In most cases, the confrontations are little more than posturing - an escalating exchange of "Hold me back! Hold me back!" until the sides return to their respective dugouts. Other times, the tensions boil over, and a true basebrawl unfolds, as we saw with the Yankees and Red Sox earlier this season.

On Tuesday night, Chicago Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant opted for a third option - starting a tickle fight amidst the chaos.

Tensions were high between the Cubs and the Marlins after a collision at home plate between Derek Dietrich and Victor Caratini. As the two puffed chests at each other and traded words, both teams emptied from their dugouts in anticipation of the coming confrontation.

But just as the two sides began to meet, Bryant reached out and tickled his former teammate Starlin Castro, who immediately buckled at the gag. The mood lightened, and both sides went back to baseball without much fuss.

You can watch the scene play out below.

It's a tact that we could definitely see a bit more of in the majors, and it wasn't the only contribution Bryant would have in the game - with the game tied in the bottom of the 8th, Bryant would race home for the game-winning run on a fielder's choice.