LOS ANGELES – It is the Los Angeles Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks, so hostilities are no surprise.
Tempers flared enough after three Dodgers batters were hit Wednesday that plate umpire Brian Gorman issued warnings to both benches in the seventh inning. There were no further incidents in the Dodgers’ 3-1 victory.
“I think as far as Brian Gorman issuing a warning to both benches, I think that is what he has to do when he hears some jawing back and forth,” manager Dave Roberts said. “That’s kind of what they have to do. The last one [to Justin Turner] was a breaking ball that hit him in a good spot. The other two, they came in. They pitch in.”
Turner was hit twice Wednesday, and Joc Pederson was hit once. On Tuesday two Diamondbacks players were hit (Jean Segura and Nick Ahmed), as was the Dodgers' Yasiel Puig.
These teams famously brawled twice in one night in 2013. And later that season, when the Dodgers clinched the division in Arizona they celebrated in the Chase Field swimming pool, angering some D-backs players. Then, in a 2015 spring training game, four were ejected when the Dodgers and D-backs started pelting each other with pitches while in the desert.
The Dodgers did not retaliate for their three batters who were hit Wednesday, but the game was tight throughout. The teams finish a three-game series Thursday at Dodger Stadium, with the Dodgers going with rookie Ross Stripling on the mound.
The second time Turner was hit, a breaking ball from Jake Barrett got him in the left hand. He stayed in the game, but the swelling was enough of a concern to send Turner for X-rays that came out negative.
