Tatis, Ohtani and Iglesias hit by pitches. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts gets ejected vs Padres
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Shohei Ohtani was hit by a pitch from San Diego Padres starter Randy Vásquez in the third inning Tuesday night, and Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was ejected after arguing on the field in a tense game between the NL West rivals.
The Dodgers won 8-6 in the second of four games this week.
In the top of the inning, Dodgers reliever Lou Trivino plunked Fernando Tatis Jr., the second time the slugger has been hit by the Dodgers this season. Tatis left the clubhouse without speaking to media after the game.
Ohtani was hit in the right leg just above his knee, drawing heavy boos from the crowd. Ohtani spun around and limped toward first, but he was soon laughing with Padres first baseman Luis Arráez.
“That was our part of our plan to go inside and we were able to execute the pitch,” Vásquez said through a translator. “It wasn’t intentional at all.”
Roberts said Ohtani was “absolutely” hit on purpose.
“I give him credit because they hit him in the leg. Own it, and we move on,” he said. “It’s not a misfire. I do feel it was intentional. Again, that’s part of baseball, which we all understand.”
The umpires warned both benches, and crew chief Marvin Hudson told Roberts not to come out of the dugout. He did anyway and had an animated discussion with Hudson along the third base line, telling him, “I just want to talk.” Roberts grew increasingly angry while gesturing sharply.
“I didn’t feel a warning on both sides was warranted,” Roberts said. “I wanted an explanation on their thought process. I didn’t come in hot. I just wanted to know why. At that point in time, I realized later I got tossed, which I didn’t understand or appreciate.”
Third base umpire Tripp Gibson came over and moved himself in front of Hudson to separate the crew chief and Roberts. Gibson tossed Roberts, his first ejection this season and the 13th of his career.
“He can’t argue the warnings, so we had to get rid of him,” Hudson told a pool reporter after the game. “He had to be ejected.”
Later, Padres manager Mike Shildt went out and talked to Hudson and home plate umpire Ryan Blakney.
“I said, ‘Hey, is there going to be some discretion here on both sides?’” he said. “That’s when I said to Ryan, ‘What do you got?’ He said, ‘I didn’t have it with any intent, feel good about it.’ I said it doesn’t taste great on our side. He said, ‘I don’t blame you but I didn’t see it.’”
Roberts was watching from his office when he saw Shildt talking to the umpires.
“To see Mike get the opportunity to talk to umpires after I was tossed and (got) their explanation, and he was still in the game. I think what anyone wants is consistency, right?” Roberts said. “I wanted an explanation of what’s going on for their decision making and I got run. Just there was no consistency.”
Dodgers reliever Matt Sauer hit Padres shortstop Jose Iglesias on his left hand with a pitch leading off the seventh. X-rays were negative on Iglesias’ hand, Shildt said.
“There was no intent in him getting hit there, in our judgment,” Hudson said in the pool report.
Shildt agreed, saying, “I just thought a ball got away from him based on his initial reaction and based on his ball movement. It’s unfortunate, and our guys weren’t thrilled with it. I’m not thrilled with it, but I also understood.”
In the series opener Monday night, Dodgers outfielder Andy Pages was hit by a pitch from Padres starter Dylan Cease. Pages stared down Cease, Roberts came on the field and one of the umpires stood on the mound in front of Cease.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB
By BETH HARRIS
AP Sports Writer
