The Atlanta Braves and the Los Angeles Angels threw hands on Tuesday night at Angel Stadium in Anaheim. Atlanta walked away with a 7-2 win, but there was a dustup in the bottom of the fifth innings when Braves’ starter Reynaldo Lopez threw high and inside to former Brave Jorge Soler.
Soler charged the mound and started a brawl. But before the situation got too severe, Braves’ manager Walt Weiss tackled Soler to the ground along with catching coach Dustin Garneau.
That seemed to stop things from getting out of control. After the game, Weiss spoke to reporters and shared his reason for tackling Soler.
“I love Soler. We were teammates here. But that’s a big man,” Weiss said I just felt I got to get him off his feet because he’s going to hurt somebody. And so that was my instinct, just to get in there and get Jorge off his feet, because he was on a warpath.”
Atlanta Braves’ Walt Weiss Tackles Jorge Soler
Soler had been hit by Lopez in the bottom of the third inning and had also hit a home run off of him in the bottom of the first. But Soler clearly took exception to Lopez throwing high and inside, even if the pitch was unintentional.
“Obviously, I have good numbers against him,” Soler said after the game. “After the home run and getting hit by a pitch after that, and then he missed way too high and close to my head. At this level, you can’t miss like that.”
Lopez has struggled against Soler in the past, with Soler hitting .609 with five home runs and 11 RBI in 23 at-bats against him, according to ESPN.
Lopez made sure to clear the air by saying he did not intend to hit Soler, but that didn’t stop Soler from charging the mound, which ultimately led to Weiss and Garneau stepping in and bringing Soler to the ground.
Fortunately, that was the end of the brawl and the game ultimately continued as normal, but it wasn’t without some fireworks, and frustrations certainly boiled over at a crucial moment in the game.
Weiss clearly doesn’t seem to have any ill will towards Soler, but that his move to tackle him was mainly to protect Lopez from getting hurt. Fortunately, it didn’t escalate any further than that and order was ultimately restored, but it will be interesting to see if there is any carryover in Wednesday’s series finale between the two teams. If there is, there might be cause for another benches clearing incident between them.
Braves, Angels Await Potential Discipline
Ultimately, it remains to be seen if either side will face any discipline. Soler likely will face some as a result of charging the mound and trying to attack Lopez.
However, Lopez might end up avoiding any punishment, as he stated that his intent was not to hit Soler. That still is unclear. Weiss possibly could face some as well for tackling Soler to the ground, but that could be seen as more of a protective maneuver rather than attempting to incite a brawl.
We’ll see what Major League Baseball decides to do with everybody involved.
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