It has been some time since a major brawl erupted on the Major League Baseball diamond.

On Tuesday night, a significant confrontation broke out between the Los Angeles Angels and the Atlanta Braves. The incident began when Angels batter Jorge Soler charged the mound after Braves pitcher Reynaldo Lopez threw a pitch high and inside that tipped off Jonah Heim’s glove in the bottom of the fifth inning. As Soler approached the mound, Lopez, holding a baseball, struck him in the head.

The altercation quickly escalated. Initially, Lopez held his hands up as he glared with Soler before both began exchanging punches. “I asked him if everything was OK, and the answer he gave me, I didn’t like it,” Soler said through an interpreter, according to MLB.com. “That’s why I went out there.”

The benches and bullpens emptied as players from both teams tried to separate the two. Atlanta manager Walt Weiss was among those who tackled Soler. Both Soler and Lopez were ejected following the incident.

Weiss, who worked with Soler in 2021 when the latter won World Series MVP honors, noted their history: “We have a good relationship. I don’t think he tried to do anything against me. We’re friends. I think he was just trying to protect me.” Weiss added that he and Soler were simply attempting to prevent escalation, and while Lopez had noticeable bruising on his hand, all players involved emerged injury-free.

“We know it didn’t look good because of Soler’s numbers against López,” Weiss explained. “López is not throwing at him. I don’t allow our pitchers to throw at people just because they can’t get them out. Our job is to get them out. But I understand why Soler got angry.”

Angels manager Kurt Suzuki stated the incident was behind both teams but acknowledged Soler’s actions were understandable. Soler, however, suggested Lopez had specific control issues for him: “López didn’t have any control problems facing other hitters,” he said. “I believe he did it on purpose.”