The start of Tuesday's San Diego Padres-Washington Nationals game had some fireworks in the bottom of the first inning that featured a bench-clearing brawl, a hit batter, a manager ejection and a two-run home run.
The cause of all of this? Padres outfielder Jurickson Profar taunting and trash-talking the Nationals dugout following his walk-off hit on Monday night. Profar said he felt "disrespected" that the Nationals had decided to intentionally walk Luis Arraez in front of him, and decided to make that feeling known.
The Nationals did not appreciate it, and before Profar's first at-bat on Tuesday night, he was confronted by Nationals catcher Keibert Ruiz.
That led to the benches and bullpens emptying and warnings being issued to both dugouts.
When order was finally restored, Nationals starting pitcher Mackenzie Gore hit Profar in the leg with a 98 mph fastball on the very first pitch of the at-bat.
Despite the warnings, Gore was not ejected from the game, a development that infuriated Padres manager Mike Schildt who proceeded to get himself ejected from the game.
Here is a look at the entire sequence.
Benches cleared between the Nationals and Padres in the first inning after words were exchanged between Manny Machado, Jurickson Profar and Keibert Ruiz
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) June 26, 2024
Profar was then hit by the next pitch and Mike Shildt was ejected pic.twitter.com/rfWzV2UKXQ
The very next batter, Manny Machado, clubbed a two-run home run.
Later in the game, Ruiz lined out to Profar in left field, and as Ruiz returned to the dugout, Profar could be seen waving at him.
The Padres and Nationals may not be traditional rivals, but there is clearly some dislike in the series.
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