Braves’ Reynaldo Lopez & Angels’ Jorge Soler Suspended For Seven Games After In-Game Fight

A fight broke out during the Los Angeles Angels-Atlanta Braves game between Jorge Soler and Reynaldo Lopez, leading to their seven-game suspensions. 

The Braves won the game 7-2. 

In the bottom of the first, Soler hit a home run off a hanging slider from Lopez. During his next at-bat, Soler was hit by a pitch.

In his third at-bat, Lopez threw a pitch high and inside, close to Soler. Soler took offense to that and charged the mound. Both players were ejected for the fight. Tyler Kinley came in to pitch for the Braves while Jeimer Candelario pinch-hit for Soler. 

The Braves were already leading 4-2 when the fight happened. They extended their lead later with an Ozzie Albies home run, Drake Baldwin RBI single and Matt Olson RBI groundout. 

Austin Riley had a huge game for the Braves with two hits and one RBI. Riley has gotten off to a cold start to the season, as he currently has a batting average of .190. Jo Adell had two hits for the Angels. Adell made headlines earlier in the season when he hit three home runs against the Seattle Mariners. 

After the game, Lopez told reporters that he did not intend to throw at Soler. 

“It’s just a shame, the situation and how things unfolded,” López said through a translator, “On my part, there was never any intent to hit him at any point. So, again, it’s just a shame.”

Despite this, Braves manager Walt Weiss understood why Soler was mad.

“I know it didn’t look good because of Soler’s numbers against Lopey, and he hit a homer, he hit him. It didn’t look good,” Weiss said. “Lopey’s not throwing at him. I don’t allow our pitchers to throw at people just because they can’t get ’em out. Our job is to get ’em out. But I understand why Soler got angry. And he’s a really mild-mannered guy. So, I think the switch flipped for him.