It’s no secret that the Los Angeles Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks aren’t fond of one another. Much of the animosity particularly stems back to last fall, when a handful of Dodgers opted to use the pool in center field at Chase Field as the team celebrated their win over the D’backs to clinch the NL West.
It would appear, at least on Saturday, that the hate extended down to the two clubs’ Triple-A affiliates.
A brawl erupted during Saturday’s game between the Albuqueque Isotopes (Dodgers) and Reno Aces (D’backs) that resulted in ten ejections. Suspensions are likely forthcoming as well for some involved.
Erisbel Arruebarrena was at the plate in the top of the second inning for the Isotopes and took exception to being thrown at by Aces pitcher Mike Bolsinger. The benches briefly cleared but there was no incident. Arruebarrena struck out a few pitches later. As Aces catcher Blake Lalli moved to throw the ball around the horn, Arruebarrena bumped him and two began to exchange words. Arruebarrena pushed Lalli and things quickly escalated from there.
Arruebarrena was ejected immediately following his pushing of Lalli. Aces manager Phil Nevin was also ejected along with eight other players involved in the brawl.