Dodgers beat Giants after Bumgarner hits Puig and benches clear
With Yasiel Puig and Madison Bumgarner bickering and on the verge of an actual fight Tuesday night, manager Don Mattingly reminded his player of the figurative fight the Los Angeles Dodgers the San Francisco Giants were engaged in. Not only was the division at stake at Dodger Stadium, but the Dodgers and Giants might play each other again next week in the National League playoffs. So cool it.
It might have been Mattingly’s best work of the season.
Stopping with the yelling and posturing, Puig went to first base after Bumgarner hit him with a pitch in the first inning. Already ahead by a run after Justin Turner led off with a solo home run, the Dodgers added two more on Matt Kemp’s 24th home run, with Puig scoring ahead of him.
Although the Giants came back against Zack Greinke in the third inning when Bumgarner hit a two-run homer, they got no closer in a 4-2 victory for the Dodgers, who lowered their magic number to 1 to clinch the NL West. Cy Young contender Clayton Kershaw can lead the Dodgers to their fifth division title in 11 seasons Wednesday in the series finale. The Giants can clinch a wild-card spot with more one victory this season, or any Milwaukee Brewers loss.
But about that Puig-Bumgarner tiff. Back in May, they argued on the field after Puig homered against Bumgarner and flipped his bat stylishly. Puig might have thought this was a continuation of that.
Via MLB.com:
Puig hit the dirt when the pitch hit his foot, looked at Bumgarner, then the two exchanged words and the scrum was on. Puig had been hit by a Jake Peavy pitch in the first inning on Monday night and leads the Dodgers in HBPs with 12, twice as many as any teammate.
“He looked at me and said, ‘What are you looking at?'” said Puig. “I reacted after that comment.”
With Puig walking toward the mound and replying with invectives, Bumgarner threw his glove down and appeared to yell, “Let’s go! Let’s [bleeping] go right now!” That’s about when Mattingly stepped in.
Bumgarner said the pitch that hit Puig wasn’t on purpose — but that he’d “make sure” Puig would know if it were.
“I tried to strike him out on a back-door cutter, threw it across [and] hit him in the foot,” said Bumgarner. “It happens pretty often to a left-handed pitcher with a cutter or a slider. … He turned around and looked at me like he had something in mind, so …
“I probably said something first. He’s sitting there staring at me. I don’t know how to say this without getting myself in trouble but — I don’t know.”
Oh, you men. Here’s a longer video of the incident:
Larry Brown Sports notes that Giants manager Bruce Bochy blamed Puig for the escalating tempers. And it’s not like Bochy would throw his own player under the bus. But Puig had help. He gets more of the attention for “needing to rein in his emotions,” but Bumgarner can fly off the handle just as easily, sometimes to his own detriment.
Here’s a look at Bumgarner losing his cool:
Bumgarner blamed a lack of his own execution for the home runs to Kemp and Turner — who went deep again in the eighth for an insurance run. But was he flustered by the benches-clearing scrum? Possibly.
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David Brown is an editor for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter!
