Brawl breaks out between Braves pitcher Reynaldo López and Angels slugger Jorge Soler
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Atlanta Braves pitcher Reynaldo López and Los Angeles Angels designated hitter Jorge Soler were ejected after getting into a brawl. Soler homered off López in the first inning, then was hit by a 96 mph fastball from the right-hander his next time up.
In the fifth, Soler charged the mound after López threw a high-and-inside wild pitch that tipped off catcher Jonah Heim’s mitt. At first, López held up his hands 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 a translator, 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, the 2021 World Series MVP with the Braves. “I love Soler. We were teammates here,” Weiss said.
“But that’s a big man, and so I just felt I’ve 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, yeah, because he was on a warpath. ” López was still holding the baseball when he landed a punch on Soler’s batting helmet.