Benches clear as tensions boil over in Dodgers-Padres brawl

LOS ANGELES – A brawl erupted between the Dodgers and Padres in the ninth inning as the Padres secured the final game of the series, 5-3, on Thursday night at Dodger Stadium in front of 53,280 fans.

The rivalry between the Dodgers and Padres is intensifying, whether fans like it or not. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was ejected for the second time this season, with both ejections occurring during the series against the Padres. During the game, rookie right-hander Jack Little hit Fernando Tatis Jr. in the arm with a pitch, causing both benches to clear. Padres manager Mike Shildt promptly left the dugout and confronted Roberts, leading to a face-to-face exchange. Roberts slightly pushed Shildt as a scuffle broke out.

“I didn’t feel good about Tatis getting hit,” Roberts said. “As he comes out, and he’s yelling at me and staring me down, that bothers me.”

Padres third baseman Manny Machado stated that the Dodgers should pray and light a candle for Tatis' CT scan results to be negative on Friday.

“Let’s just hope the CT scan comes back negative,” Machado said. “[The Dodgers] gotta pray it comes back negative tomorrow. They better put out a candle.”

Roberts and Shildt were both ejected, which contributed to a tense situation in the bottom of the ninth inning. The Dodgers were trailing 5-0 when Teoscar Hernandez and Max Muncy both walked to start the inning. Andy Pages then recorded the first out for the Dodgers. Padres closer Robert Suarez, a right-hander, came into the game as Tommy Edman singled to center, bringing Hernandez home to score. In the next at-bat, Hyeseong Kim grounded out, allowing Muncy to score the second run for the Dodgers. Shohei Ohtani then stepped up to bat with Edman on third base. On a 3-0 count, Suarez hit Ohtani in the back with a pitch.

Ohtani quickly walked towards first base, signaling his teammates to return to the dugout, as he appeared to be fine and wanted to prevent the situation from escalating again. Roberts was ejected in the top of the ninth inning, so he was unable to watch the bottom half of the inning from the dugout.

“Oh, absolutely,” Roberts said. “It’s 3-0, again, this is a right-hander pitcher throwing across court to hit Shohei, but clearly there was intent behind it.”

Roberts recognizes that this is baseball, but he noticed a problem with Shildt as it became personal towards him, which is why Roberts took it personally.

“I felt like he was trying to make it personal towards me,” Roberts said. “Which, then, I took it personal.”

Before the brawl erupted, the Padres held a commanding 5-0 lead as they took aim at right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Despite the rough outing, Yamamoto managed to strike out three batters in the third inning, marking his first three strikeouts of the game.

The Padres' offense received a boost when shortstop Xander Bogaerts hit his fourth home run of the season off Yamamoto's 89 mph splitter, sending the ball 401 feet over the center field wall. Although this marked the first run of the game, Yamamoto continued to pitch effectively for the first few innings before encountering difficulties. Bogaerts led off with a single, marking his second hit of the game. Jake Cronenworth followed with another single, allowing Bogaerts to advance to third base. Jose Iglesias then hit a sacrifice fly, bringing in the Padres' second run of the game.

Yamamoto threw 75 pitches in the first five innings and finished the game with 100 pitches, spanning 6 ⅓ innings. During this outing, he allowed seven hits and three earned runs. He recorded five strikeouts, resulting in his sixth loss of the season and his third in June. This month alone, Yamamoto has given up 12 earned runs, and the Dodgers have lost in his last four starts.

Yamamoto is coming into this game with five days of rest, as Roberts is considering delaying his next start to give him an extra day off. So far this season, Yamamoto has excelled, posting a 0.90 ERA through his first seven starts, which is the best among all pitchers in baseball. In his most recent outing, Yamamoto, who has a record of 6-6 and a 2.76 ERA, demonstrated improved command of both his fastball and splitter compared to earlier in the season. Unfortunately, he did not receive adequate run support from his offense.

Ohtani had been hitless in his last 10 at-bats until he singled in his second at-bat of the game. Meanwhile, Mookie Betts, Will Smith, Freddie Freeman, Max Muncy, and Andy Pages combined for a 0-for-15 performance. Prior to this game, Pages had been outstanding in the series against the Padres, hitting 6-for-9 with two home runs, two doubles, and four runs batted in. After Pages was hit by a pitch on Monday, Padres manager Mike Shildt made a comment that seemed to spark Pages' offensive surge through the first three games of the series.

The Dodgers' offense began to come alive in the seventh inning, with runners on second and third and two outs. Padres right-hander Jeremiah Estrada managed to escape the full-count jam by getting Kim to ground out, leaving Ohtani on deck.

Right-hander Ryan Bergert pitched 4 ⅓ innings, allowing three hits, walking one batter, and striking out three. In the fifth inning, Bergert found himself in a tough situation after recording the first two outs. He walked Edman and then Kim hit a single to right field, which advanced Edman to third base. The Padres then called in left-hander Adrian Morejon from the bullpen to face Ohtani. With runners on the corners, Ohtani hit a weak ground ball back to the pitcher, resulting in the third out of the inning.

Little, 27, made his major league debut by coming out of the bullpen in the eighth inning. On his very first pitch in the big leagues, Luis Arraez hit a triple down the right field line to lead off the inning. Gavin Sheets then stepped up and singled to center, scoring the Padres' fourth run of the game. With the bases loaded, Iglesias was walked, allowing the fifth run to come in. Little managed to get out of the inning, pitching two innings and allowing four hits and two earned runs on 35 pitches.

The Dodgers won three out of four games against the Padres, giving them a five-game lead over San Diego and a 3.5-game lead over the Giants. Their five-game winning streak has come to an end as they prepare to host the Washington Nationals this weekend, wrapping up a stretch of 10 games in 10 days.

Left-hander Clayton Kershaw (2-0, 3.25 ERA) will take the mound for the Dodgers, just 12 strikeouts away from reaching 3,000 for his career. The Nationals will counter with left-hander MacKenzie Gore (3-6, 2.89) on Friday at Dodger Stadium.