10/07/24 12:06:00
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10/07 00:04 CDT Tossed balls from stands, apparently aimed at Profar,
interrupts Padres' win in NLDS Game 2
Tossed balls from stands, apparently aimed at Profar, interrupts Padres' win in
NLDS Game 2
By BETH HARRIS
AP Sports Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) --- Tempers flared on the field and in the stands at Dodger
Stadium, with rowdy fans tossing baseballs, apparently at San Diego left
fielder Jurickson Profar, and then trash that caused a 12-minute wait between
pitches during the seventh inning of the Padres' 10-2 win in NL Division Series
Game 2 on Sunday night.
"That's just not acceptable," Padres manager Mike Shildt said.
There were words exchanged between Dodgers starter Jack Flaherty and Padres
slugger Manny Machado, who took exception to Flaherty hitting Fernando Tatis Jr.
"Well, shoot, I've seen over a thousand games here, well over a thousand games
in this ballpark, and I've never seen anything like that," Dodgers manager Dave
Roberts said. "It was ugly."
Profar had robbed Mookie Betts of a home run in the first inning, reaching into
the stands behind the low left-field wall. Left field umpire Adrian Johnson
circled his arm signaling a home run.
But Profar battled the outstretched arms of fans, reeling in the ball on the
webbing of his glove and helping spark the Padres to evening the best-of-five
series at one game each.
"He tried," Profar said of a fan who tried to snatch the ball. "I dunked on
him."
Profar hopped away backward as he stared at the astonished fans, then threw the
ball to the infield. Later, there were verbal exchanges between fans and Profar.
"He said the fans out there were trying to get it out of his glove," Padres
slugger Manny Machado said. "What a hell of a catch to start off the game."
With San Diego leading 4-1 and Yu Darvish warming up for the bottom of the
seventh, fans appeared to be yelling at Profar, who motioned back at them with
his right arm.
A couple of balls were thrown. Johnson came up to him, soon joined by Shildt,
San Diego players and more umpires. Profar yelled and pointed before teammate
Xander Bogaerts put an arm around him and Padres players, including Darvish,
formed a huddle.
"Yes, I was upset. You can hurt somebody," Profar said. "I hope our people in
San Diego don't do that."
Profar said Dodgers fans "wanted to start throwing stuff on the field
yesterday."
Roberts said, "Obviously there's a lot of emotions and things like that. But
that's something that should never happen."
Dodgers security staff attempted to identify the fans who caused the trouble.
"We were looking for a higher security presence out in the left-field corner to
ensure that that behavior didn't continue and to make sure that if anybody did
throw anything out on the field they would be identified immediately and
removed from the stadium," umpire crew chief Dan Bellino said.
Public address announcer Todd Leitz told the crowd: "We ask that you do not
throw objects onto the field."
"You're in a tough environment," Machado said. "You're going to get some things
said to you but once you start throwing things onto the field that's just
uncalled for."
There was trash on the warning track in right field near the Padres bullpen.
"Now we had a second instance that was happening at a different part of the
stadium, so we just had to reiterate with security that we needed an enhanced
security out in right field as well," Bellino said.
After the seventh inning, Machado gathered his teammates for a brief meeting in
their dugout.
Machado said his message was "just stay focused."
Flaherty hit Tatis with a pitch in the sixth inning, and Profar exchanged words
with Dodgers catcher Will Smith.
"You can't get him out, don't hit him," Machado said. "They got the best player
in the game, (Shohei) Ohtani. We don't go out there and try to hit Ohtani. We
try to get him out."
Flaherty struck Machado out swinging with Tatis and another runner on in the
sixth.
"He did some s---- in between innings. He threw a ball at our dugout," Flaherty
said. "There was no reason for that."
Asked about Flaherty's accusation, Machado said, "I throw balls all the time
into dugouts. Both dugouts. They have bad balls, you throw the ball back in
there."
Bellino said the situation never escalated to the point umpires considered
directing players off the field.
"We would not hesitate to do that if we thought that their safety was in
jeopardy," he said. "And if that was to proceed, then obviously it would be
referred to the commissioner's pffice to see if a potential forfeit would be
called for."
The best-of-five series moves to Petco Park for Game 3 on Tuesday.
"We're about to go back to San Diego with a very, very loud, raucous,
aggressive, hungry crowd that's going to be super-excited and going to be
getting after it," Shildt said, before borrowing a line from the Will Ferrell
comedy "Anchorman."
"But I know also that we'll stay classy, San Diego."
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB
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