Dustin May and Yu Darvish each hit two batters on Friday night, and the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres were both warned after Will Smith took a fastball off his left arm in the sixth inning.
“Letter of the law, how they’re supposed to handle it, I was,” answered Dodgers manager Dave Roberts if he was in support of the umpires’ decision. “As far as umpires and how they’re supposed to keep control of the game. But the first two guys, hit by pitch were breaking balls.
“And then Will, a fastball up and in that Yu certainly had no intent. I didn’t think it was needed, but I understood the whole process.”
The first hit by a pitch of the night came when May got Jake Cronenworth in his left leg with a first-pitch cutter. Brandon Drury followed that with a two-run homer, and in his next plate appearance was hit in the head by a curveball that broke the ear flap off his helmet.
Drury was checked on by a trainer before initially remaining in the game. However, that was short-lived as Drury was removed in the bottom half of the inning.
“I wasn’t in the box for any of them, but I know Dustin obviously threw a curveball. Pretty scary to see anyone get hit in the head,” said Justin Turner, who is the all-time Dodgers hit by pitch leader.
“Hopefully Brandon’s OK and they just took him out for precautionary reasons. Will gets hit with a fastball up and in, and they decided to issue warnings. I don’t know what that was about, but that’s what they decided to do.”
Roberts: no tension brewing between Dodgers, Padres
While tempers have flared between the Dodgers and Padres in the past, Roberts doesn’t anticipate any carryover from batters being hit during the series opener and refuted the notion messages were being sent.
“No, absolutely not. We’ve lost three in a row now, so we’ve got to find a way to win a baseball game,” Roberts said.
Are you following Dodger Blue on Instagram? It’s the best way to see exclusive coverage from games and events, get your questions answered, and more!
