Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Andy Pages believes San Diego Padres pitcher Dylan Cease hit him on purpose in Monday night's game.

Pages gave Cease a piece of his mind after the right-hander drilled him with a fastball inside in the bottom of the fourth inning.

(Video source: MLB.com)

"I probably shouldn't have reacted like that, but he doesn't miss with a slider on the corner, yet he can miss with a fastball?" Pages said postgame, according to Alden Gonzalez of ESPN.

Pages added: "I tried to find a way to apologize."

Cease, meanwhile, came away from the altercation feeling confused, despite the teams' longstanding rivalry.

"I didn't understand it," he said of Pages' reaction. "It's not going to deter me from throwing inside. I don't know if I've ever hit a Dodger before. It just happens. It's part of the game."

Pages came around to score on a single from Shohei Ohtani in what became a five-run inning for the Dodgers. Cease allowed six earned runs over five innings pitched with nine strikeouts.

Los Angeles won the game 6-3 with Ben Casparius picking up the win in relief of Ohtani, who opened the game on the mound in what was his first pitching appearance since 2023.

Pages has accrued 2.5 fWAR while hitting .282/.323/.483 with 13 home runs and 46 RBIs for the Dodgers so far this season.

The NL West rivals will continue their series on Wednesday night.