Padres tie playoff single-game HR record in Game 2 blowout of Dodgers
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Tempers flared on the field and in the stands at Dodger Stadium, with fans tossing baseballs, apparently at San Diego left fielder Jurickson Profar, and then trash that caused a 12-minute wait between pitches during the seventh inning of the Padres' 10-2 win in NL Division Series Game 2 on Sunday night.
Profar had robbed Mookie Betts of a home run in the first inning, reaching into the stands behind the low left-field wall. Left field umpire Adrian Johnson circled his arm signaling a home run.
But Profar battled the outstretched arms of fans, reeling in the ball on the webbing of his glove and helping spark the Padres to evening the best-of-five series at one game each.
"He tried," Profar said of a fan who tried to snatch the ball. "I dunked on him."
Profar hopped away backward as he stared at the astonished fans, then threw the ball to the infield. Later, there were verbal exchanges between fans and Profar.
"He said the fans out there were trying to get it out of his glove," Padres slugger Manny Machado said. "What a hell of a catch to start off the game."
With San Diego leading 4-1 and Yu Darvish warming up for the bottom of the seventh, fans appeared to be yelling at Profar, who motioned back at them with his right arm.
A couple of balls were thrown. Johnson came up to him, soon joined by Padres manager Mike Shildt, San Diego players and more umpires. Profar yelled and pointed before teammate Xander Bogaerts put an arm around him and Padres players, including Darvish, formed a huddle.
"Yes, I was upset. You can hurt somebody," Profar said. "I hope our people in San Diego don't do that."
Profar said Dodgers fans "wanted to start throwing stuff on the field yesterday."
Dodgers security staff attempted to identify the fans who caused the trouble.
"We were looking for a higher security presence out in the left-field corner to ensure that that behavior didn't continue and to make sure that if anybody did throw anything out on the field they would be identified immediately and removed from the stadium," umpire crew chief Dan Bellino said.
Public address announcer Todd Leitz told the crowd: "We ask that you do not throw objects onto the field."
"You're in a tough environment," Machado said. "You're going to get some things said to you but once you start throwing things onto the field that's just uncalled for."
There was trash on the warning track in right field near the Padres bullpen.
"Now we had a second instance that was happening at a different part of the stadium, so we just had to reiterate with security that we needed an enhanced security out in right field as well," Bellino said.
After the seventh inning, Machado gathered his teammates for a brief meeting in their dugout.
Machado said his message was “just stay focused.”
Dodgers starter Jack Flaherty hit Fernando Tatis Jr. with a pitch in the sixth inning, and Profar exchanged words with Dodgers catcher Will Smith.
Machado took exception to Tatis getting plunked.
"You can't get him out, don't hit him," he said. "They got the best player in the game, (Shohei) Ohtani. We don’t go out there and try to hit Ohtani. We try to get him out."
Flaherty struck Machado out swinging with Tatis and another runner on in the sixth.
"He did some shit in between innings. He threw a ball at our dugout," Flaherty said. "There was no reason for that."
Asked about Flaherty’s accusation, Machado said, "I throw balls all the time into dugouts. Both dugouts. They have bad balls, you throw the ball back in there."
Bellino said the situation never escalated to the point umpires considered directing players off the field.
"We would not hesitate to do that if we thought that their safety was in jeopardy," he said. "And if that was to proceed, then obviously it would be referred to the commissioner's office to see if a potential forfeit would be called for."
UP NEXT
The Dodgers announced Walker Buehler will start Game 3 on Tuesday. RHP Michael King goes for the Padres. He was dominant against Atlanta in the NL Wild Card Series, striking out 12 in seven scoreless innings. King faced the Dodgers four times this season, tossing 12 innings of shutout ball in two of the outings while getting hit hard in the other two.