Dodgers Brawl With Diamondbacks Tuesday Night [Video]
Major League Baseball has long been known for its tendency to get a little rowdy from time to time, with pitchers occasionally hitting batters with pitches in retaliation for past offenses. The Dodgers and the Diamondbacks decided that Tuesday was a good night to let off a little steam.
First, Dodger's ace Zack Greinke plunked Cody Ross in the fifth inning. Then in the sixth, Diamondbacks pitcher Ian Kennedy decided to return the favor and hit the Dodger's new rookie phenom Yasiel Puig in the face. It was at that point that tensions started to markedly rise between both ball clubs.
Zack Greinke came back on the mound and soon beaned Arizona catcher Miguel Montero in the back, and the writing was on the wall. Soon after that incident, Ian Kennedy came back onto the mound and had the pleasure of facing Greinke, and did not hesitate in throwing a fastball right at his face. It was then that the benches cleared.
"If you can't pitch inside without hitting somebody in the head, then you shouldn't pitch inside," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. "So, [Puig] gets hit in the face, Montero gets hit in the back, it's over. It continued on. Talk is cheap. It doesn't matter. It's a good win for us."
The brawl itself resulted in a total of five ejections. Multiple players were seen throwing punches and even the managers and coaches got into the scuffle, some of whom had to be separated by their players.
Dodgers supporters contend that the Diamondbacks started the aggression by deliberately throwing pitches at the players' heads.
"We're certainly not going to try and jeopardize anybody's career. We respect those guys too much," Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson said. "They responded and it was certainly obvious. And beyond that, things just got out of control."
In all, five different players were hit by pitches in the game, which the Dodgers eventually won 5-3. Despite the anger and aggression during both the game and the brawl, Mattingly states that he understands where the Diamondbacks are coming from and harbors no ill will.
"They've got a lot of guys over there that I respect in [Alan Trammell] and Gibby, the way they played the game. Don Baylor, I played with him. I respect the way they play the game," Mattingly said. "We're competing, we're trying to win a game. They're trying to win a game, they're going to protect their guys. I'm going to protect my guys."
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