Bad blood continues to bubble up as Los Angeles Dodgers get best of San Diego Padres again
SAN DIEGO — There’s nothing that fuels a rivalry more than hatred and hot tempers, with some bench-clearing skirmishes mixed in.
The Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres have bought into the concept, and are delivering in style.
Saturday, for the second consecutive night at Petco Park, these two West Coast clubs reminded everyone that they can’t stand one another with yet another incident of wild gestures, taunts and obscenities filling the San Diego air.
The incident in Round 2 of this new fierce rivalry – which saw the Dodgers win again, 2-0 – overshadowed a brilliant pitching duel between Dodgers Cy Young winner Clayton Kershaw and former teammate Yu Darvish, and one of the finest game-ending, and game-saving, catches you’ll ever see by center fielder Mookie Betts.
Mookie Betts saves the day for the Dodgers! pic.twitter.com/lNkcfFYVis
Still, the talk focused on the fourth inning skirmish with Kershaw screaming and pointing his finger at Padres first baseman Jurickson Profar after a catcher’s interference call:
“That a (expletive) swing!
“That’s a (expletive) swing!’’ Kershaw bellowed.
Profar responding by saying:
“Shut the (expletive) up!
“Shut the (expletive) up!’’
Nothing makes a rivalry quite like a little extra-curricular activity, fueling the intensity and animosity between these two ultra-talented teams.
How else can you explain how a catcher’s interference replay review turned into a furious outburst from Kershaw, an outraged reaction from Profar, and saw both benches climb over the dugout railings, poised to brawl if needed?
The @Padres and Dodgers find themselves in another brouhaha!#HungryForMorepic.twitter.com/7ezSadMdPK
It happened with two outs in the fourth inning when Kershaw struck out Profar on a 92-mph fastball. But when Profar swung late, almost as if he wanted to check his swing when the ball was already past him, his bat clipped the glove of catcher Austin Barnes.
Home-plate umpire Tom Hallion called Profar out. Kershaw and the Dodgers ran off the field. But Profar remained at the plate, gesturing that it should be catcher’s interference.
He pleaded to Hallion, called out Padres manager Jayce Tingler to argue on his behalf, and the umpiring crew huddled on the infield.
“It was just really late,’’ Roberts said. “I saw the ball in Barnes’ glove. Obviously, I didn’t understand the rule. I’m protecting a catcher. You can break a guy’s hand.’’
No one was quite sure what they saw, so Hallion walked over to the replay headset. Before Hallion could even listen to what the crew in New York saw, Kershaw screamed at Profar, and pointed his left finger at him.
He turned towards the dugout, took a step, and repeated himself, jabbing his finger again towards Profar.
Profar, standing on first base, convinced he would be proven right, realized Kershaw was screaming at him.
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