Tensions built up and eventually overflowed during the Braves-Angels game Tuesday night in a wild brawl that saw both benches and bullpens empty.
Angels designated hitter Jorge Soler began the night by hitting a home run off Braves pitcher Reynaldo López. In his second at-bat, López hit Soler in the hand. In Soler’s third plate appearance in the fifth inning, Lopez threw up and in and to the backstop, a move Soler clearly didn’t appreciate.
At first, López held his hands up as the pitcher and batter glared at each other.
“I asked him if everything was OK, and the answer he gave me, I didn’t like it,” Soler said. “That’s why I went out there.”
Soler continued, “Obviously, I have good numbers against him. After the home run and getting hit by a pitch after that, he missed way too high and close to my head. At this level, you can’t miss like that.”
Soler charged the mound, and then both teams followed as the brawl descended into a swinging, swirling mass of players and managers. Speaking of managers, Braves skipper Walt Weiss got directly involved by executing a nice takedown of Soler.
Though Weiss says he was trying to get his former player on the ground to break up the fight, rather than having any ill intent.
“I love Soler. We were teammates here,” he said. “But that’s a big man. I just felt I gotta get him off his feet because he’s gonna hurt somebody. And so that was my instinct, just to get in there and get Jorge off his feet, because he was on a warpath.”
For his part, López claims he had no intention of hitting Soler with the pitch.
“It’s just a shame, the situation and how things unfolded,” López told reporters. “On my part, there was never any intent to hit him at any point. So again, it’s just a shame.”
Both López and Soler were ejected, and given that punches were thrown, suspensions will likely follow soon.
The Braves won the game, 7-2.
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