The Atlanta Braves secured a 7-2 victory over the Los Angeles Angels Tuesday night in Anaheim, but the game will be remembered more for a dramatic bench-clearing brawl that erupted in the fifth inning than the final score.
Ozzie Albies launched a home run and Eli White contributed a double plus two RBIs, including the decisive run on a sacrifice fly, to power Atlanta’s offensive attack. Matt Olson added a double and crossed home plate twice, while Austin Riley and Mauricio Dubon each collected two hits and scored once. Drake Baldwin chipped in with two hits and one RBI for the Braves.
The fireworks began in the fifth inning when tensions boiled over between Jorge Soler and Atlanta pitcher Reynaldo Lopez. Soler, who had blasted a two-run homer in the opening frame and been hit by a pitch on his left hand in the third, became incensed after Lopez threw a high and inside fastball that deflected off catcher Jonah Heim’s glove and rolled to the backstop, allowing Nolan Schanuel to move to second base.
After glaring at Lopez for several moments, Soler charged toward the pitcher’s mound. The two players confronted each other and began exchanging punches, though none appeared to connect cleanly, as both dugouts emptied onto the field. Braves manager Walt Weiss eventually tackled Soler near the first base line to help end the melee.
Tyler Kinley (1-0) earned the victory in relief after Lopez was ejected following the altercation, recording two outs after taking over. Raisel Iglesias closed out the contest by striking out three batters over the final five outs to secure his second save of the season.
Angels starter Yusei Kikuchi (0-2) absorbed the loss, surrendering four runs on six hits across five innings while walking one and striking out eight. Lopez allowed two unearned runs while fanning seven in 4 2/3 innings, giving up three hits and two walks before his early exit.
The victory snapped Atlanta’s three-game skid while ending Los Angeles’ three-game winning streak.
The Angels struck first in the opening inning when Mike Trout reached base on a throwing error by Riley at third base and came home one out later on Soler’s line drive home run down the left field line. The blast marked Soler’s fifth homer in 23 career at-bats against Lopez.
Atlanta responded in the second inning, cutting the gap to 2-1 when Olson opened with a double and came around to score on White’s two-out double into the left field corner.
The Braves seized control with a three-run fourth inning to grab a 4-2 advantage. Olson drew a leadoff walk, advanced to second on a wild pitch, and scored on Riley’s single. Riley then moved to third on Dubon’s double before White brought him home with a sacrifice fly to make it 3-2. Heim followed with an RBI single to plate Dubon.
Albies padded the lead to 5-2 when he opened the eighth with his third home run of the season, a 379-foot blast to right field off reliever Shaun Anderson. Atlanta put the game away with two additional runs in the ninth, capped by Baldwin’s RBI single.
