Bench-clearing brawl erupts between Angels, Braves after Jorge Soler charges mound

Tensions erupted at the ballpark Tuesday night when the Los Angeles Angels and Atlanta Braves cleared the benches after a pitch sailed high and inside.

Jorge Soler did not appreciate Reynaldo Lopez throwing near his head, and things got out of hand in a hurry.

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Bench-clearing brawl follows Soler-Lopez clash in Braves win

The incident came after Soler launched a homer in his first at-bat and took one to the ribs in his second trip to the plate. Lopez fired another pitch up and in during the fifth inning, and the two former Braves teammates started jawing at each other.

Soler did not wait long. He charged the mound and started throwing punches, with Lopez firing back. Neither connected cleanly, but Lopez still gripped the baseball during the scuffle and managed to knock Soler’s helmet off his head.

Both benches emptied seconds later, and a full brawl broke out near the first-base line. Soler kept going after Lopez before getting dragged to the ground by a group of Braves players.

Angels star Mike Trout stepped in and shoved Lopez away from the chaos. The MLB umpires eventually restored order, but both Soler and Lopez got tossed from what became a 7-2 Atlanta win.

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A fight breaks out between Atlanta Braves pitcher Reynaldo López and Los Angeles Angels right fielder Jorge Soler. Mandatory Credit: William Navarro-Imagn Images

Jeimer Candelario replaced Soler in the lineup but struck out against reliever Tyler Kinley, who came in for Lopez. The beef between the two felt personal, but Soler clearly owns the matchup on the stat sheet.

His two-run shot earlier in the game pushed his career line against Lopez to 14-for-23 with five homers and three doubles. Lopez already plunked Soler with a 96 mph fastball on a 2-1 count back in the third inning, so the writing was on the wall long before the benches cleared.

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