The San Diego Padres’ Fernando Tatis Jr. and the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani were both hit by pitches again yesterday in San Diego’s 5-3 win over LA, bringing the total number of players who have been hit by pitches in this series to eight. This time around, the benches cleared out as players from both teams began shouting and shoving one another, which eventually led to the ejection of Dodgers manager Dave Roberts and Padres manager Mike Shildt.
It all started at the top of the ninth inning when Dodgers rookie relief pitcher Jack Little threw a high and tight fastball that caught Fernando Tatis Jr. on the right hand, causing him to fall to the ground in pain.
“They like to pitch in. They’re aggressive pitching in. That’s fine,” Shildt said after the win. “People pitch Tati in. He’s been hit five times by this group and played a lot of dodgeball because he’s athletic. He’s been hit three times in the last seven games. You can put it any way you want, but he hadn’t been hit more than four times by any other team – period – in his career.”
Immediately after Tatis was hit, Mike Shildt went to check on his right fielder before turning his anger toward Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. In response, Roberts left the dugout to confront Shildt, which led to both benches clearing and a minor brawl breaking out.
Benches have cleared in the Padres-Dodgers game after Fernando Tatis Jr. was hit by a pitch pic.twitter.com/pG7P3nmDoM
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“After a while, enough’s enough,” Shildt explained. “Intentional. Unintentional. The fact of the matter is, [I] took exception with it. I’m responsible for my actions. I recognize that [it’s] one of the few times that I’m going to instill myself in the game.”
During the brawl, there was plenty of pushing and shoving from both sides. However, an irate Mike Shildt could be seen screaming and pointing at Dave Roberts, who had plenty to say back to the Padres’ skipper. According to the Dodgers’ broadcast, Roberts yelled, “We’ll talk later!” at Shildt.
“The way I see it. The way I saw it was Jack Little was making his major league debut. He’s trying to get through the out, and we’re trying to get him to finish the game… and then he hits Tatis with an armside fastball. Obviously, I think anyone knows there is no intent,” said Roberts after the game. “As (Shildt) comes out, he’s yelling at me and staring me down. That bothers me because, to be quite frank, that’s the last thing I want. I’m taking starters out of the game and trying to get this game over and get this kid a couple innings. So, that’s why I felt I took that personal because I understand the game and understand it doesn’t feel good to be hit, but I understand – again – intent versus clearly no intent.”
After the brawl, both Roberts and Shildt were ejected from the game. However, that didn’t stop the tension from escalating further, especially after Tatis had to leave the game with a hurt hand.
Shohei Ohtani plays peacemaker at the end of another wild game between the Padres and Dodgers. pic.twitter.com/V03xUugs8z
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“Enough is enough,” Shildt said. “We got a guy that’s getting X-rays right now that’s one of the best players in the game… Teams that I manage don’t get into altercations like this because teams that I manage don’t throw at people. But also, teams I manage don’t take anything. After a while, I’m not gonna take it… You want to call that old school, then yeah, we’ll play old school baseball.”
In the bottom of the ninth inning, the Padres got their revenge when Robert Suarez hit Shohei Ohtani in the right shoulder blade with a fastball. That led to Suarez and San Diego’s acting manager, Brian Esposito, being ejected from the game. Right after he was hit, Ohtani waved off his teammates, encouraging them to stay put in the dugout and not start another fight.
“I mean that that’s their decision, and Major League Baseball’s going to have to look at that. And that’s after warnings were issued,” Roberts said. “But I can honestly say… there was not one intent. You don’t want that guy on base. He was hit, but that is baseball. I know that there was no intent from any of our guys hitting their guys.”
Both the Padres and Dodgers have home games scheduled for tonight. San Diego will take on the Kansas City Royals at 9:40 p.m. EDT, while LA will face the Washington Nationals at 10:10 p.m. EDT.
