Milwaukee Brewers center fielder Carlos Gomez said Monday a conversation with his parents gave him insight into a brawl he helped touch off a day before in a victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Gomez, speaking to reporters Monday before a 4-3 win over the visiting San Diego Padres, said he told his parents "I don't mean to do that, but things happen and they don't mean to do that, but things happen in the game.

"We know it's not good for baseball," Gomez recalled telling his parents. "But when you have 50 men outside, something can happen."

The problems started when Gomez paused at the plate and flipped his bat to watch his two-out drive off Pirates starter Gerrit Cole.

Gomez, who had said after the game that he wasn't "apologetic for anything that I did today" and "that he was just doing my job," said he now didn't know whether he would appeal any MLB suspension.

"To be honest, I don't know anything," Gomez said. "I've just been watching TV, and the only thing I hear is my dad and my mother talking to me. They don't want to see something like that."

Gomez said he thought the ball would be caught. Instead, it hit the wall and he sped into third base, making a headfirst slide for a triple.

Cole, who was near third base backing up the play, stormed toward Gomez and they exchanged words.

The benches then emptied, and as the teams converged, Milwaukee's Martin Maldonado threw a punch that left a cut and bruise around the eye of Pirates outfielder Travis Snider.

"We're a family," said Maldonado, who said he expected to be suspended. "I see two guys over Gomez, so I tried to protect him."

Gomez, who was suspended last year after a similar brawl with the Atlanta Braves, repeatedly said Monday he was ready to put the incident in the past.