Autumn baseball in the Major League Baseball is in full swing. The rivalry game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres, which exchanged one win and one loss in the National League Division Series, is also heating up. Tensions are mounting as players from both teams exchange harsh words. Perhaps, a spark could send a retaliatory ball to Shohei Ohtani (30, LA Dodgers).
The second game of the NLDS between San Diego and the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California, on the 7th (Korea time). San Diego exploded six home runs and won the Dodgers 10-2, balancing the series with one win and one loss, and even the players and the crowd showed an overheated atmosphere as they could hardly control their emotions.
It started in the bottom of the first inning. San Diego Padres left fielder Jurickson Profar jumped in front of the fence to catch Dodgers Mookie Betts’ left home run ball. Many spectators reached out to catch the ball, but Profar calmly cleared it. Afterwards, Profar leaped backwards while watching the crowd with a smile. As Profar did not immediately indicate that he caught the ball, Betts raised his hand thinking it was a home run.
The scene could have been seen as provoking the opponent team. Right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. also acted as if making fun of Dodgers fans in the outfield. He even stuck his tongue out while watching Dodgers fans in the dugout. Eventually, spectators in the left outfield threw foreign substances, including balls and water bottles, to Profar before the Dodgers’ attack in the bottom of the seventh inning, which stopped the game for about 10 minutes.
The emotional battle also intensified among the players. In the top of the sixth inning, Dodgers starter Jack Flaherty’s second sinker hit San Diego Padres leadoff hitter Tatis Jr. As the next batter, Profar, stepped in to the batter’s box, he exchanged words with Dodgers catcher Will Smith in a serious mood. With runners on the first and second bases with no outs leading to Profar’s bunt hit, Flaherty struck out Manny Machado in a swing and miss, and after being replaced, the two players exchanged loud voices at both dugouts.
According to local media including The Athletic, Dodgers players were angry because of Machado’s behavior. Machado was stimulated by the fact that he threw a pitch towards the Dodgers’ dugout by filtering out a defective ball during the defense inning. “I always throw (scratch) pitches to the dugout. I throw them to both dugouts,” Machado said, adding that he had no other intention. 안전놀이터
However, it was a misleading behavior in a big game, and Dodgers players showed very unpleasant reactions. Flaherty said, “The coach made me angry. He threw the ball towards our dugout, and the umpires immediately ran to him. I don’t know what they talked about, but there’s no reason to throw it like that, and our dugout was excited,” adding, “He’s a really good hitter, but I won’t apologize for what I did.” Dodgers shortstop Miguel Rojas said, “That’s rude. You shouldn’t do such a thing,” and shot Machado.
The San Diego Padres suspected Flaherty’s pitch to Tatis Jr. was an empty ball. “Faherty hit the highest hitter in our team. If you can’t get him out, don’t even hit him,” Machado said. “The Dodgers has the best player in baseball. We didn’t try to hit Ohtani. We just tried to catch him out. Don’t try to hit our players.” He implied that he could throw a retaliatory ball to Ohtani.
However, Flaherty said, “In my first at-bat, I threw Tatis Jr. to the center and hit a home run. I hit the first batter in the sixth inning because I didn’t want to throw a real pitch.”
They were all tough on each other but voiced their opinions on foreign substances thrown by some spectators. Profar said, “This is an act that could hurt someone. I hope the San Diego fans don’t do that.” Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy also said, “Throwing things in the stadium is unacceptable.” Flaherty also said, “Fans should not intervene like this. There is no reason to throw something at players no matter what happens,” pointing out the immature attitude of some spectators at home.
