Overview
- - MLB announced seven-game suspensions and undisclosed fines on Wednesday for Jorge Soler and Reynaldo López, and both players filed appeals that pause the bans.
- - The fight erupted Tuesday in the fifth inning after a high, inside pitch skipped to the backstop, following Soler’s first-inning home run and a hit-by-pitch in his next plate appearance.
- - Soler charged the mound and both threw punches, with López at one point striking Soler’s helmet while still holding the baseball, and both were ejected.
- - Braves manager Walt Weiss tackled Soler as players swarmed to break up the melee, and Atlanta went on to win 7-2 with López logging seven strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings before his exit.
- - Soler has dominated the matchup against López at 14-for-23 with five home runs, a history cited in postgame explanations, and benches-clearing fights like this are rare and typically draw multi-game penalties.