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Tensions between the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres reached a boiling point during the top of the ninth inning of the Padres’ 5-3 win at Dodger Stadium on Thursday.
Padres star Fernando Tatis Jr. was batting with one out in the ninth inning with the Padres up 5-0.
Dodgers’ relief pitcher Jack Little threw a 93-mph fastball that ran in on Tatis and hit him in the hand. It was the third time Dodgers’ pitchers have hit Tatis in seven games this season.
Padres’ manager Mike Shildt was irate that Tatis had been drilled again, and stormed out of his dugout and began yelling towards the Dodgers’ bench.
As Shildt came marching across the field, Dodgers’ manager Dave Roberts raced out of his dugout, and the two managers were face to face for a moment before being pulled away from each other. Both teams’ bullpens and dugouts emptied to join the fracas.
Eventually, order was restored, and both teams returned to their respective dugouts, but Shildt and Roberts were both ejected from the game. Despite both managers having been tossed, the fireworks were not over yet.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, the Padres were up 5-2 with two outs and a man on third base with Shohei Ohtani up to bat.
Padres reliever Robert Suarez fell behind 3-0 in the count to Ohtani and on the next pitch, Suarez beaned Ohtani with a 100-mph fastball into his right shoulder.
The Japanese superstar waved his dugout off from storming the field as he walked down the first baseline to take his base. Suarez was ejected for beaming Ohtani with the pitch.
It was the second time Ohtani was hit by a pitch in the series, with both times coming the half inning after the Dodgers hit Tatis with a pitch.
It was also the sixth time Tatis had been hit by the Dodgers in his career, the most by any club.
The Padres eventually won 5-3, but their concern lies with the results of Tatis’s X-Ray and CT scan.
“(The Dodgers) gotta pray for (results) to come back negative tomorrow,” Padres third baseman Manny Machado said. “They should. Us, too, but they should for sure.”
Shildt said whether the Dodgers had hit Tatis intentionally or not does not matter.
“Whether it was (intentional) or it wasn’t, enough is enough,” Shildt said. “We got a guy who’s getting X-rays right now, is one of the best players in the game. Fortunately, he’s on our team, and this guy has taken shots, OK?”
Roberts said it bothered him that Shildt had come out and started yelling towards him following the hit-by-pitch.
“I didn’t feel good about Tatis — great player, good guy — getting hit,” Roberts said. “I didn’t feel good about it. And so as (Shildt) comes out, and he’s yelling at me and staring me down, that bothers me. Because, to be quite frank, that’s the last thing I wanted.”
Roberts also praised Ohtani for defusing the situation after he had been drilled.
“Well, I think he knew it was intentional,” Roberts said. “He wasn’t hurt by it, and he didn’t want any more drama, which I respect that a lot.”
The Dodgers took three of the four games in the series and have taken five of the seven games that the two teams have played thus far this season.
The next time the two NL West rivals will face off again is Aug. 15-17 at Los Angeles and Aug. 22-24 at San Diego.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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