Tempers flared on Tuesday as the Braves and Angels erupted into a massive, benches-clearing brawl at Angels Stadium in Anaheim.
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Halos outfielder Jorge Soler was noticeably peeved by Reynaldo Lopez throwing a 97 MPH heater past his head and to the backstop after Soler homered in his first at-bat and was hit by a pitch in his second trip to the plate.
After the fastball whizzed by his face, Soler stared Lopez down as the pitcher awaited a new ball from the umpire. Before long, after Lopez began chirping at him, Soler dropped his bat and charged the mound. There were no knockouts or takedowns recorded, but the two exchanged punches.
The benches-clearing brawl began in the fifth inning and ranged from the pitcher's mound to first base, with players from both teams joining the melee.
Lopez appeared still to have a baseball in his hands during the scuffle and nearly smashed Soler in the face with it. Thankfully for the Angels outfielder, his batter's helmet's face guard absorbed most of the blow.
Here?s an angle of the brawl where you can see Reynaldo Lopez land a blow on Jorge Soler with the baseball in his hand pic.twitter.com/dSucXM4T9c
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia)
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After the game, Soler told reporters that something Lopez said after the pitch triggered him to attack.
"I asked him if everything was OK. And the answer he gave me, I didn't like it," Soler said through interpreter Jobel Jiménez. "That's why I went out there."
Soler then pointed to his impressive career numbers against Lopez, hinting that the Braves hurler may have beaned him intentionally. Including his two-run homer on Tuesday, Soler is a career 14-for-23 hitter with eight extra-base hits against the Braves starter.
"Obviously, I have good numbers against him," Soler said. "After the home run and getting hit by a pitch after that. And then he missed way too high and close to my head. At this level, you can't miss like that."
Soler and Lopez were both ejected from the game. The league has yet to announce if suspensions will be passed down.
