Things got heated late in Sunday’s NLDS Game 2 between the Padres and Dodgers when a fan in the stands at Dodger Stadium threw a ball on the field in the direction of Padres outfielder Jurickson Profar.
The incident caused a several-minute delay in the seventh inning and appeared to stem from the first-inning interaction Profar had with fans after robbing Mookie Betts of a home run at the wall.
The Padres went on to win 10-2 and tie the series 1-1.
Fan throws ball at Profar from the outfield stands
As Padres starter Yu Darvish took the mound for his first pitch of the seventh inning, a commotion stirred in left field. Profar was exchanging words with fans in the stands and was clearly heated.
A fan then threw a ball from the stands toward Profar.
Padres manager Mike Shildt then took the field as umpires and Padres players gathered on the outer edge of the infield. Profar was visibly upset as he spoke with his teammates and members of the umpiring crew.
The public address announcer then warned fans against throwing objects on the field. After more than three minutes passed, Profar shook his head in agreement with umpires and jogged back to his defensive position in left field. He was greeted by boos from Dodgers fans after the scrum dissolved.
Fans throw more stuff onto field
At that point, Darvish restarted his warm-up, and members of the Dodger Stadium security staff met with umpires on the field. Fox broadcast cameras then showed what looked like water bottles littering right field near Padres outfielder Fernando Tatís Jr.
Three security staffers then joined Profar in left field, and the public address announcer again warned fans against throwing items on the field. Profar again met with umpires near the edge of the infield, and Darvish again paused his warm-up.
Finally, after a nearly 10-minute delay, play resumed with the first pitch of the inning as security staffers manned the outfield wall. Fox’s Ken Rosenthal later reported that Shildt told umpires he was concerned that his players were in danger.
When Padres players returned to the dugout after the half-inning, Manny Machado gathered his teammates for a meeting.
The delay didn’t appear to impact Darvish, who worked through a scoreless inning to cap his night. The Padres led 4-1 at the time of the incident and later blew the game open for a 10-2 win. They added three runs in the eighth and three more in the ninth on a night when they hit six home runs.
Darvish picked up the win while allowing just one run on three hits and two walks in seven innings pitched.
Did first-inning interaction trigger late-game drama?
Profar made a sensational play in the outfield in the first inning, when he reached over the wall and into the stands to rob Betts of a home run.
He celebrated by taunting Dodgers fans and fooled the Fox broadcast and Betts into thinking the blast had traveled over the wall and tied the game.
The play took place in the bottom of the first inning with the Padres holding a 1-0 lead. Betts hit a deep fly ball off of Darvish toward the left-field stands. The wall along the left-field foul pole is chest-high, which allowed Profar to make the play on a ball that traveled into the first row of the stands.
Profar jumped and leaned over the wall as Dodgers fans fought him to catch the ball. When he landed, he stared down the fans and hopped up and down. Betts broke into a home-run trot, and the Fox broadcast put a run on the board, declaring that Betts had hit a home run.
He had not. Only moments later did Profar reveal that he had actually caught the ball for an out.
Instead of a 1-1 game, the Padres maintained a 1-0 lead and got out of the first inning without allowing the Dodgers to score.
Profar was all smiles in a dugout interview with Fox’s Ken Rosenthal between innings.
“That was one of my wishes,” he said. “I wanted to rob a homer, and I did it in a playoff game, so it was awesome.”
What did he say to the fans after making the catch?
“I didn’t say anything,” Profar continued. “I had to fight with them to catch the ball. They were hitting my glove.”
Six innings later, the Padres had taken control of the game, but tension escalated between players and fans. Machado and Dodgers starter Jack Flaherty exchanged words on multiple occasions prior to the seventh-inning delay.
After the seventh-inning incident, Tatís continued to taunt and chirp with fans.
With Sunday’s win, the Padres tied the series at 1-1. Things will shift south to San Diego for Game 3 on Tuesday, when Padres fans will surely have their say.
