Oakland Athletics outfielder Matt Joyce took to Twitter on Saturday afternoon to issue an apology for directing a homophobic slur towards a fan during Friday night's game with the Los Angeles Angeles.

An Associated Press photographer heard the exchange as Joyce returned to the dugout following an inning-ending groundout in the eighth as Angels first baseman C.J. Cron made a diving stab to retire him.

Joyce laid into the fan with a string of expletives, a homophobic slur and challenged the fan to a fight.

 

 

 

 

 

 

“In regard to last night's incident, I first and foremost want to sincerely apologize to the fans, the Oakland A's, MLB and the most importantly the LGBTQ community for my comments and actions," Joyce wrote. "A fan yelled vulgar and obscene words about me and my family and I let my frustrations and emotions get the better of me. I am beyond sorry for the inappropriate language that I used and understand and agree that those words should NEVER come out of someone's mouth no matter the situation. Anyone who knows me will tell you that incident it is not reflective of me as a person, how I treat others, how I live my life and that those hurtful words are not my views. I fully support and hope to help the LGBTQ community with their efforts in being treated fairly and intend to let my actions speak louder than anything more that can be said about this truly regrettable moment.”

This marks the second incident in Major League Baseball this season in which a homophobic slur was uttered. Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Kevin Pillar was suspended for two games in May for directing a slur at Atlanta Braves reliever Jason Motte.

Later on Saturday, the A's released a statement on the incident.

“The Oakland Athletics are very disappointed with the comments Matt Joyce made to a fan during the eighth inning of last night’s game,” the statement read. “This language is unacceptable and will not be tolerated by our team. We pride ourselves on being inclusive and expect our entire organization to live up to higher standards. We appreciate that Matt is contrite about his conduct and know he will learn from this incident.”