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Dodgers rookie Yasiel Puig didn't get a hit tonight but did add more "firsts" to his baseball card in a wild game. In the sixth inning, Puig learned about the baseball law of intimidation. He was hit in the nose by a pitch from Arizona's Ian Kennedy. Remember that name. Puig lay and sat on the ground for a few minutes while being tended by the Dodgers trainer. He then took his base and scored when the next batter, Andre Ethier, hit a home run into the right field pavilion.
The ball thrown at Puig's head came two innings after the Dodgers pitcher, Zack Greinke, nicked the wrist of one of the Diamondbacks with a pitch. If the Puig beaning was Arizona retaliation, it was grossly over the line: a ball thrown up and in at his head. The Dodgers apparently felt that beaning the team's best hitter and youngest rookie demanded retaliation, so the net Arizona batter to come up, catcher Miguel Montero, was himself hit by Greinke. Miguel took a step toward the pitching mound and the teams milled on the field, but there was no real action. That might have been it.
The next inning, Greinke came to bat and Kennedy hit him with the first pitch. Kennedy and Arizona manager Kirk Gibson were immediately kicked out of the game, but both teams ran onto the field and met angrily near the Diamondbacks dugout. There was shouting, pushing, shoving, wrestling and some actual punches thrown. Dodgers coach Mark McGwire confronted Gibson in a potential battle of heavyweights, but I didn't see any exchange of fists. Puig took active part in the melee and was ejected, as was McGwire. "I've never seen anything happen like this," CBS 2 broadcaster Jim Hill said on the air. "Total insanity at Dodger Stadium," Fred Roggin said on NBC 4.
From MLB.com:
Los Angeles manager Don Mattingly and Arizona skipper Kirk Gibson got physically tangled, and Dodgers coach Mark McGwire went jaw to jaw with Gibson and D-backs coach Matt Williams.But the real action occurred near the photo well next to the Arizona dugout, where Dodgers reliever Ronald Belisario went after several players, and J.P. Howell smashed Arizona coach Turner Ward into the padded railing. Puig re-ignited the melee and had to be pulled from the scrum.
The Dodgers went on to win 5-3 on a 3-run double by Tim Federowicz. We'll probably hear something from baseball tomorrow about possible suspensions for Arizona.
Screen grab from ESPN LA
