It was a trimmed down slate on Monday across the MLB. One of the five games in action featured the Cincinnati Reds and the Pittsburgh Pirates. The NL Central foes teed things off in Pittsburgh and the Reds blew out the Pirates 14-1. Yet it was what happened before the game that may have been an even bigger loss for Pittsburgh.

There's nothing that'll get your squad more fired up than winning a pre-game standoff against someone from the opposing team in the MLB.

Reds infielder Alex Blandino squared off against Pirates pitcher Luis Oviedo in this epic standoff. Both players stood frozen to their spots after the national anthem concluded in front of their respective dugouts. The Pirates literally took the field and we were warming up as Blandino and Oviedo stood firm to their position while keeping their hand over their heart as if the anthem was still going on.

The battle lasted over two minutes which given the scenario, likely felt like an eternity. Oviedo looked uneasy at about the one minute mark as Blandino stayed as still as a statue. Then near the end it seemed as though Blandino would bow out first as the MLB home plate umpire for the game yelled and implored both to leave the field.

In the end, the Reds came out on top in the standoff as Blandino edged out Oviedo and Cincinnati won the game in dominating fashion.

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This should become more of a regular occurrence in MLB games and there should be something on the line. Keep track of the stats and the date as one player from each team represents in these standoffs. The Reds and Pirates are both in the cellar of the NL Central standings yet they stole the highlights for this last night. Nobody will remember the final score of the game down the road from this one. Everyone will remember the standoff.

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