The Dodgers and Padres were already carrying the weight of Monday night’s hostility. Little did they know what Tuesday night had in store for them. In the Monday series opener, the Padres’ pitcher Dylan Cease’s fastball hit Andy Pages’ arm directly. Consequently, this hostility prompted the managers and players of both teams to gather around home plate.

Interestingly, during the next matchup, the tempers were even hotter than the night before. This time, things got worse for the Dodgers’ star Shohei Ohtani when a Padres pitcher retaliated for his teammate Fernando Tatís Jr. If things weren’t already messy enough, Dave Roberts ended up getting ejected from the game.

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In fact, it took just one inning for things to go south. Both Tatis and Ohtani were hit by pitches in the span of a single inning. Tatis took a fastball to the back from Lou Trivino. For the record, he was hit for the second time by the Dodgers this season. Whereas, in what looked like retaliation from the Padres, Ohtani was hit directly in his right leg by Randy Vásquez.

As that happened, the umpires issued a clear warning to both teams. Meanwhile, Roberts was visibly yelling from the dugout. Perhaps he was arguing for Vásquez to be thrown out of the game. The skipper was simply infuriated. He even stepped onto the field and was soon tossed out by the third base umpire, Tripp Gibson.

Despite the hostility from both teams, neither Tatis nor Ohtani opted for any further confrontation. However, the night before, Pages reacted furiously to Cease on the field, which almost ended in a brawl. Isn’t it hard to believe all that unfolded within the span of two games? Well, it goes back to the last time something similar happened.

How Dodgers-Padres rivalry first began

It was not the first time. Both teams have been on edge since last October’s NL Division Series. Back then, Dodgers’ manager Dave Roberts held Manny Machado accountable for throwing a ball at him in an unsettling manner.

In fact, that game was further delayed as fans pelted Jurickson Profar with baseballs, garbage, and empty plastic bottles in the seventh inning after he threw a ball toward the crowd for the sake of a “fun Souvenir.” Apparently, it happened because the outfielder had nabbed a near-home run by the Dodgers in the first inning.

Clearly, both teams were still carrying their temper from last year. That’s why things turned brutal on Monday and Tuesday night. First, Pages was hit on his left elbow guard by a 97.7 mph fastball. On the other side of the ball was Cease. He was accused of intentionally hitting Pages. After the game, Pages opened up about what happened. He said, “It’s impossible that he can’t miss a slider on the corner, and he missed a fastball a strike zone inside.” Later, Pages admitted that his reaction may have been due to an adrenaline rush. He even apologized later.

Now that you know where Pages was coming from, let’s see where Cease stood. For him, what happened was just “a part of the game.” He also stated that he doesn’t recall hitting a Dodgers player before this instance.

In fact, after Monday night’s instance, Machado was also just as shocked by Pages’ reaction. He spoke for the Padres and said, “If we wanted to hit someone, they‘ve got some big dogs we could hit.” He emphasized further that it wasn’t that big of a deal. Still, the October brawl and these two consecutive tense games reflect that Dodgers-Padres is a new rivalry in the league.