As per a team announcement, the Houston Astros have terminated assistant general manager Brandon Taubman in light of his remarks following the team’s walk-off, pennant-clinching win over the New York Yankees last weekend.

According to Stephanie Apstein of Sports Illustrated, following the Astros’ thrilling 6-4 win on Saturday courtesy of Jose Altuve‘s two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth, Taubman “turned to a group of three female reporters, including one wearing a purple domestic-violence awareness bracelet, and yelled, half a dozen times, ‘Thank God we got [Roberto Osuna]! I’m so f—— glad we got Osuna’,”.

While a member of the Toronto Blue Jays, Osuna was suspended by MLB for 75 games in 2018 following allegations of assault from the mother of his child, Alejandra Roman Cota. The Astros traded for him at the trade deadline that season and the 24-year-old right-hander’s pitched to a 2.46 ERA over 87.2 innings with Houston since.

Immediately following the incident, the Astros released a statement condemning SI’s report and their “attempt to fabricate a story where one does not exist”.

After other media outlets confirmed the incident as reported, Taubman released a statement through the Astros and MLB announced an investigation into the matter, both on Tuesday.

On Thursday afternoon, the Astros attempted to pick up the pieces after their self-inflicted firestorm (statement via Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle).

“Our initial investigation led us to believe that Brandon Taubman’s inappropriate comments were not directed at any reporter. We were wrong.”

“We sincerely apologize to Stephanie Apstein, Sports Illustrated, and to all individuals who witnessed this incident or were offended by the inappropriate conduct. The Astros in no way intended to minimize the issues related to domestic violence.”

“Our initial belief was based on witness statements about the incident. Subsequent interviews have revealed that Taubman’s inappropriate comments were, in fact, directed toward one or more reporters.”

“Accordingly, we have terminated Brandon Taubman’s employment with the Houston Astros. His conduct does not reflect the values of our organization and we believe this is the most appropriate course of action.”

We’ll keep you posted with any additional updates.