Atlanta Braves pitcher Reynaldo Lopez and Los Angeles Angels designated hitter Jorge Soler were ejected after a brawl between the two players Tuesday night.
Soler charged the mound after Lopez threw a pitch high and inside that tipped off Jonah Heim's glove in the bottom of the fifth inning.
At first, Lopez held his hands up as the two glared at each other before both started throwing punches.
"I asked him if everything was OK, and the answer he gave me, I didn't like it," Soler said through an interpreter, according to MLB.com. "That's why I went out there."
The benches and bullpens emptied as players from both teams tried to separate the two. Atlanta manager Walt Weiss was among those who tackled Soler.
"I love Soler. We were teammates here," Weiss said, referring to Soler's time with the Braves in the 2021 and 2024 seasons. "But that's a big man. I just felt I gotta get him off his feet because he's gonna hurt somebody. And so that was my instinct, just to get in there and get Jorge off his feet, because he was on a warpath."
Lopez was holding the baseball when he landed a punch on Soler's batting helmet.
"It's just a shame, the situation and how things unfolded," Lopez said through an interpreter, according to MLB.com. "On my part, there was never any intent to hit him at any point. So again, it's just a shame."
Soler homered off Lopez in his first at-bat and was hit by a 96 mph fastball in his second. The Braves led 4-2 when the dustup occurred and went on to win 7-2.
Soler, who is 14-for-23 with five homers and three doubles against Lopez, said he thought Lopez's pitch was "intentional."
"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."
Angels manager Kurt Suzuki said he couldn't blame Soler "one bit" for his reaction.
"He went out there and words were exchanged and Jorge went out," Suzuki added. "You get thrown at your head, you have a family, your career, you know, it's dangerous. I know it's part of the game. I know it happens."
Weiss said he understood why Soler was mad.
"I know it didn't look good because of Soler's numbers against Lopey, and he hit a homer, he hit him. It didn't look good," Weiss said. "Lopey's not throwing at him. I don't allow our pitchers to throw at people just because they can't get 'em out. Our job is to get 'em out. But I understand why Soler got angry. And he's a really mild-mannered guy. So I think the switch flipped for him.
"There was no intent there," Weiss added. "I just think that Lopey's just overthrowing, because he's had a hard time getting him out. But he's certainly not trying to hit him."
Lopez pitched 4⅔ innings, allowing two runs on three hits with seven strikeouts. Soler finished with the one home run and two RBIs.
"It gets your juices flowing a little bit, on both teams I'm sure," Weiss said. "So as long as nobody gets hurt, it's kind of a good time. But as long as nobody gets hurt. But yeah, I was proud of our guys the way we handled everything tonight."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
