Angels’ Jorge Soler, Braves' Reynaldo Lopez engage in on-field brawl
On-field melee by two former teammates disrupted Tuesday's Brraves-Angels matchup.
Angels’ Jorge Soler, Braves' Reynaldo Lopez engage in on-field brawl originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here . Seconds passed, and Atlanta Braves pitcher Reynaldo Lopez and Los Angeles Angels outfielder Jorge Soler continued staring at each other down.
Lopez finally opened his arms and appeared to say something. Whatever was said Tuesday night, Soler objected and charged the pitching mound, throwing several punches. Lopez, attempting to defend himself while still holding the baseball, mostly backpeddled until players from both sides converged to create a melee at Angel Stadium.
Angels outfielder Mike Trout eventually bearhugged Lopez during the fisticuffs and cleared him out of the way. Both Lopez and Soler were ejected from the contest. Braves, Angles engage in benches-clearing brawl Here’s the pre-brawl setup.
With the Braves leading 4-2 in the fifth inning, Soler, who homered earlier off Lopez, approached the batter’s box with a runner on second base and two outs. Lopez’s first pitch was a 97-mph fastball, which soared head level, past catcher Jonah Heim and to the backstop. The optics weren’t good.