The Los Angeles Dodgers team cleared the bench and got into a brawl Tuesday night with the Arizona Diamondbacks. The fight broke out after Diamondback pitcher Ian Kennedy hit Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke with a retaliation pitch, the Associated Press reports.
Tempers boiled after Kennedy hit Dodgers rookie Yasiel Puig earlier with a pitch, which deflected off his shoulder and hit his nose. When Greinke took the mound, he retaliated by striking Diamondbacks catcher Miguel Montero on the back. Both teams angrily charged the field, but the situation diffused without any punches being thrown.
Then Kennedy hit Greinke with a pitch the very next inning.
Both teams stormed onto the field. The massive fight threatened to spill into the stands. It took several minutes for the umpires to quell the fracas. Arizona's manager Kirk Gibson, coach Turner Ward and Kennedy were ejected; Los Angeles' hitting coach Mark McGwire, reliever Ronald Belisario and Puig were also ejected.
"Puig gets hit in the face, Montero gets hit, it should have been really over at this point," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly told reporters after the game.
Kennedy later said his hit on Puig was unintentional.
"I thought I got him on the shoulder, but by his reaction, I figure I got him somewhere in the face," he told reporters. "I definitely did not want to hit a guy with two strikes and put somebody like him on base."
Asked about the hit on Greinke, Kennedy said: "I honestly had no idea that it was that high until I saw the replay."
Mattingly disagreed, and Greinke declined to discuss the incident after the game.
"That's when it kind of got out of hand," Dodgers catcher Tim Federowicz said about Greinke getting hit. "You can't do that."
Belisario added: "I was out of my mind just trying to protect my teammates. If you want to hit somebody, don't hit a pitcher. Don't hit guys in the head. That's crazy."
Los Angeles defeated Arizona, 5-3.
In the video, you can make out Belisario throwing punches, an angry Puig rushing into the scrap and McGwire grabbing Gibson by the jersey and screaming at him.
