Tension was in the air between the San Diego Padres and the Los Angeles Dodgers as stars Fernando Tatis Jr. and Shohei Ohtani were hit by pitches, with each team feeling it was intentional. With Padres star Manny Machado sending warnings to the Dodgers after the game, another who gave his stern thoughts was manager Mike Shildt, who was a part of the physical altercation in the game.
During San Diego's 5-3 victory over Los Angeles, it started when a pitch hit star Fernando Tatis Jr. in the hand, which led to Shildt meeting opposing manager Dave Roberts at home plate with the latter shoving him. In the ninth inning, Ohtani would be hit by a pitch, seemingly in retaliation, but the star would wave off his team to clear the benches once again.
According to ESPN, Shildt would speak after the game about why he's irate about the situation, saying this isn't the first time Tatis has been hit in this way.
“We got a guy who's getting X-rays right now, is one of the best players in the game, fortunately on our team, and this guy has taken shots, OK?” Shildt said. “And before this series, and I can back this up with complete evidence, the track records speak for themselves — teams that I manage don't get into altercations like this because teams that I manage don't throw at people. But also, teams I manage don't take anything.”
Padres manager Mike Shildt on “playing old-school baseball”
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As the hostility between the Padres and Dodgers is well-known, Thursday night brought it to a new level as it marked the fifth time Tatis had been hit by the team since the start of the 2024 season, per ESPN. Three of those times happened in the past nine days as well, which has brought Shildt to his wits' end.
“And after a while, I'm not going to take it,” Shildt said. “And I'm not going to take it on behalf of Tati, I'm not going to take it on behalf of the team, intentional or unintentional. It's really that simple. That's how this game is played. And if you want to call that old-school, then yeah, we'll play old-school baseball.”
At any rate, San Diego currently has a 40-34 record, which puts them third in the NL West as the team starts a three-game series against the Kansas City Royals on Friday night. The next time the Padres will go toe-to-toe with the Dodgers in a series again will start on August 15, no doubt a date that will be circled on everybody's calendar.