The San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers have become something of a budding rivalry in the eyes of many, including manager Dave Roberts, and tension has reached a boiling point in this week’s series at Dodger Stadium.
After playing three games at Petco Park last week, the Padres and Dodgers are halfway through a four-game set in Los Angeles. The series started with the Dodgers earning another win, which featured fireworks along the way as Andy Pages took exception to being hit by a fastball from Dylan Cease.
Pages claimed Cease purposely hit amid the Padres’ belief that he had relayed signs from second base.
On Tuesday night, Lou Trivino hit Fernando Tatis Jr. in the back with a sinker on an 0-1 count in the third inning. It marked a second such instance for the pairing, as Trivino also plunked Tatis during a blowout loss on June 10.
Randy Vásquez hit Shohei Ohtani with a pitch in his left leg in the bottom of the third, which prompted the umpires to issue warnings to both benches.
Roberts emerged from the dugout and initially paused in foul territory while trying to communicate with the crew. Roberts eventually started a conversation with second base umpire and crew chief Marvin Hudson, along with third base coach Tripp Gibson.
Roberts grew more animated as their discussion continued, and it ended with his first ejection of the season. As he walked off the field, Padres manager Mike Shildt came out of the dugout as he sought clarity, and that further exacerbated Roberts and influenced his tone in postgame remarks.
“Just to kind of give an overview, Andy was hit [Monday] night, I feel he overreacted. We moved on. We ended up hitting a player — Tatis — unintentional,” Roberts began to explain after the Dodgers’ win.
“In that spot, we don’t want a guy on base, certainly him, bleeding into their guys in the middle part of the order. And then at that point in time, Shohei comes up with a base open, and Vásquez took one shot at him and then hit him. It’s very hard to miss that bad with a right-handed pitcher.
“So for me, if you’re going to do it, own it. And there’s no misfire, right? And I didn’t feel a warning on both sides was warranted, number one. So I just wanted an explanation. I wanted an explanation on their thought process. I didn’t come in hot, I just wanted to know why they issued (the warnings).
“I realized later I got tossed, which I didn’t understand or appreciate. And even looking back, to see Mike (Shildt) get the opportunity to talk to umpires after I was tossed, and he was still in the game. I think what anyone wants is consistency, right?
“So for me, I wanted an explanation what’s going on forward and their decision-making, and I got run. So for me, there was no consistency. I just wanted feel for the game, and that’s what I asked for. I feel we didn’t get it.”
When answering an additional question about the entire exchange and overall situation, Roberts was adamant Vásquez intentionally hit Ohtani, citing two pitches being thrown well inside.
“Absolutely,” he said. “If they feel that’s warranted on their side, it’s part of baseball, if that’s what they feel, I give them credit because they hit him in the leg. Own it, and we move on.
“But it’s not a misfire, I do feel it was intentional, and again, that’s part of baseball, which we all understand.”
The ejection was Roberts’ 13th of his career and out of the norm for the usually even-keeled manager.
“Lack of consistency, I’m very big on commonsense,” he said of what prompted the outburst. “For them to issue warnings, I feel it’s commonsense for me to ask their thought process and hold them accountable to their decision.
“That’s all I wanted to know and I was going to stand aside. And again, I see the opposing manager get the courtesy of explanation, and stays in the game. There’s no consistency with that.”
Why was Dave Roberts ejected from Padres game?
Hudson told a pool reporter that Roberts was ejected because managers are not permitted to contest warnings being issued.
“He was just upset. He can’t argue the warnings. That’s where it was at. What he said was just what he said at that point,” Hudson said. “He can’t argue the warnings, so we had to get rid of him. He had to be ejected.”
When asked about Shildt also speaking with umpires but not being ejected as well, Hudson answered, “He just asked about the warnings. He asked about pitching inside.
“I said we’re not taking that away, and he left.”
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