The Los Angeles recently defeated the San Diego Padres five of their seven times with an absurd stretch in 11 games. The two teams passed March, April and May without playing each other for the first time in 25 years.
During the finale of this dense game, a brawl broke out to clear the bench after Padres slugger Fernando Tatis Jr. hit the pitch during Jack Little’s MLB debut.
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In the lower half of the frame, Shohei Ohtani was hit on the pitch of Robert Suarez in Friars Relever and joined the manager at the early exit (and three-game suspension). Padres skipper Mike Shildt said on SiriusXM’s MLB network radio that he wants a “clean” series the next time the enemies of the two divisions face off after both Tatis and Ohtani hit twice during the series.
“My hope is that as we move forward, competition will continue to rise, but it will be clean,” Schilt said.
The atmosphere between the two clubs was certainly electrical and competitive, but the stars scattered around baseball hopefully decrease when the teams face off again in August.
The tension felt throughout the series was clear, but in particular, to hit Tatis a bit on Thursday, manager Dave Roberts tried to make it clear that the pitch, which began the skirmish, had no intention behind it.
“I’m trying to remove the starter from the game, try to start this game over and get this kid a few innings,” explained Roberts. “So I felt that personal. I understand that I understand that it’s not a good feeling to hit because I understand the game.
The are currently at the top of the National League West, with the Padres in third place and trailing in five games. The two will play six times over a nine-day span starting August 15th on Stadium.
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Photo credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Immagn Image
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