LOS ANGELES — The tone was set for an emotionally charged night in the first inning, when San Diego Padres left fielder Jurickson Profar hopped up and down and stared at the fans from whom he’d just stolen a home run.
A couple of hours later, Profar was standing in left field, surrounded by security guards, after Dodgers fans had tossed a few baseballs at him.
In between, the Padres took exception to a pitch that hit Fernando Tatis Jr., leading to a round of jawing between Padres third baseman Manny Machado and the Dodgers’ dugout.
It all added some spice to the Dodgers’ 10-2 loss to the Padres in Game 2 of the National League Division Series on Sunday night.
“It’s a beautiful thing to be playing postseason baseball,” Machado said with a smile.
Although no one wanted to see players threatened by balls coming out of the stands, they didn’t seem to mind the overall atmosphere at Dodger Stadium.
“Wild,” Tatis said. “Oh, man, it’s definitely wild out here. But at the same time it’s a good environment for baseball. Although people get carried away a little bit with their emotions. But it’s a good back and forth. At the end of the day, it’s a show, and we should enjoy every moment.”
The Dodgers and Padres, of course, have had emotional meetings for some time – this is their third postseason series against each other in the past five years.
This time around, the teams come into the series as two of the best teams in baseball, with no clear favorite, which certainly cranks up the emotion on the field and in the stands.
“I feel like the rivalry, it’s good for baseball,” Dodgers shortstop Miguel Rojas said. “Everybody’s excited about this series. Both fan bases want to win. We understand that it’s part of a big sporting event, 54,000 people. A lot of fans and all that. But we as a team, we have to play better baseball. It’s not about if we do something on the field with the fan base and all that. The game has to be played on the field and we have to overcome this one and win two more games.”
Padres manager Mike Schildt said he appreciated the way his players handled the situation.
“What I got out of it,” he said, “was a bunch of dudes that showed up in front of a big, hostile crowd with stuff being thrown at them and said, ‘We’re going to talk with our play, we’re not going to back down, we’re going to elevate our game, we’re going to be together and we’re going to take care of business.’”
It began with Tatis hitting a homer in the top of the first, and then Profar robbing Mookie Betts of a homer in the bottom of the inning. As Profar stared into the crowd, he kept the entire ballpark in suspense before revealing that he had caught the ball.
He said he wasn’t trying to troll the fans.
“No, no, no,” he said. “That was one of my wishes. I wanted to rob a homer. And I did it in a playoff game.”
In the fourth inning, Freddie Freeman hit a line drive to right field and Tatis made a leaping catch. Tatis then seemed to be soaking in the jeers of the Dodgers’ fans in the bleachers, goading them on by waving his arms.
Tatis was hit by a pitch to lead off the sixth. Machado then struck out, and he and pitcher Jack Flaherty exchanged words, continuing when Flaherty was in the Dodgers’ dugout and Machado was at third in the bottom of the inning.
Machado said he didn’t hear what the Dodgers were saying because the ballpark was so loud – “A lot of gibberish back and forth” – but he did suggest that the Padres didn’t appreciate the pitch that hit Tatis.
“You try to hit our best hitter?” Machado said. “Get him out. You can’t get him out, don’t hit him. Right? They got the best player in the game, right? (Shohei) Ohtani. We don’t go out there and try to hit Ohtani. We try to get him out. Don’t try to hit my guy.”
Although Flaherty said he wasn’t trying to hit Tatis, Machado clearly didn’t buy it.
“Try to hit Tati on a sinker in, after he’s 2 for 2 with a bomb and a double off him?” Machado said, answering a question with a question. “I’ll let you guys decide that.”
It all boiled over in the top of the seventh, when there was about a 10-minute delay while umpires and security guards dealt with the situation created by a few fans.
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“You can yell whatever you want, but throwing stuff?” Profar said. “People can get hurt.”
Schildt praised the umpires for their handling of the situation, while condemning the fans who caused the problem.
“We know, both sides know this is a competitive series,” Schildt said. “We’re going to compete hard. They’re going to compete hard. Things are going to happen. We can leave that on the field. But as far as anything happening in a stadium like that towards our players, that’s just not acceptable.”
Now, the series is set to shift to Petco Park for Games 3 and 4 on Tuesday and Wednesday nights.
“I know we’re about to go back to San Diego with a very, very loud, raucous, aggressive, hungry crowd that’s going to be super excited and going to be getting after it,” Schildt said. “But I know also that we’ll stay classy, San Diego.”
JURICKSON PROFAR ROBS MOOKIE!!! #NLDS pic.twitter.com/bvByqwsAKB
— MLB (@MLB) October 7, 2024