What began as a wayward pitch that hit Dodger Yasiel Puig in the nose quickly escalated into an all-out “you got me so I’m gonna get you back” war between the team and the Arizona Diamondbacks during Tuesday night’s game. That quickly escalated into a full-on war.
Not long after the first pitch, Diamondback Ian Kennedy hit Zack Greinke, and tensions started to rise. Kennedy, Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson and coach Turner Ward, Puig, reliever Ronald Belisario and Dodgers hitting coach Mark McGwire all converged on the field to replace angry words with angrier fists in a fight that got them all ejected at the top of the seventh inning. It should have been over then, but not long after, Greinke hit Diamondbacks catcher Miguel Montero in the back, and the benches emptied as both teams rallied on the field.
”Puig gets hit in the face, Montero gets hit, it should have been really over at this point,” Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. “If you can’t pitch inside without hitting someone in the head, you shouldn’t pitch inside.”
Kennedy claims he didn’t hit Puig on purpose, saying, ”I thought I got him on the shoulder, but by his reaction, I figure I got him somewhere in the face. ‘I definitely did not want to hit a guy with two strikes and put somebody like him on base.”
It’s hard to say exactly what the injuries to each guy who participated in the scuffle entailed, but Diamondbacks coach Turner Ward got driven into the railing at one point.
“I was out of my mind just trying to protect my teammates,” Ronald Belisario said. ”If you want to hit somebody, don’t hit a pitcher. Don’t hit guys in the head. That’s crazy.”
Several of those involved will face fines from the league.