April 12 (UPI) — Nolan Arenado charged the mound to fight Luis Perdomo, sparking a bench-clearing brawl between the Colorado Rockies and San Diego Padres.
The scuffle went down in the third inning of the Rockies’ 6-4 win Wednesday at Coors Field in Denver. Arenado stepped to the plate as the first batter for the Rockies in the bottom of the inning. The Padres right-hander eyed the three-time All-Star and immediately threw a pitch behind his back.
Arenado threw off his helmet and sprinted at the 6-foot-2, 185-pound starter. Perdomo threw his glove at Arenado and evaded him at first. He kept backing away while keeping an eye on the fuming All-Star. He also ducked to avoid a big haymaker.
Both teams cleared the benches and exchanged blows before eventually separating into their respective dugouts.
Five players were ejected for the melee, including Padres catcher A.J. Ellis, Rockies starter German Marquez, Rockies outfielder Gerardo Parra, Perdomo and Arenado.
“I didn’t like it. They thought they had to do something, but I had to do something too. That’s kind of why I went out there,” Arenado told reporters.
Arenado finished his day 0-for-1 with a strikeout. Perdomo allowed five hits and had two strikeouts in two innings of work for the Padres.
Frustration from three hit batsman in the previous two games of the series resulted in Wednesday’s actions.
“They’ve been pitching aggressively, and we’ve had some guys that have been hit,” Ellis told reporters. “We had a guy sent to the hospital last night. Two guys get hit on their hands in the past week against these guys.”
“But to react like that and go out there, especially when he didn’t even get hit and the ball was behind him, you go out there and make sure everybody’s safe and you take care of your teammates.”
Arenado said he expects to hear from Major League Baseball regarding potential discipline.
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