Dodgers win game marred by brawl

LOS ANGELES - The Dodgers took it personally when Arizona’s Ian Kennedy hit their star rookie Yasiel Puig in the face with a pitch. Then they really got mad when Kennedy hit starter Zack Greinke with another high pitch.

Punches replaced pitches at that point as a heated brawl involving players and coaches ensued, resulting in six ejections before the Dodgers rallied to beat the Diamondbacks, 5-3, on Tuesday night.

Kennedy, Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson and coach Turner Ward, along with Puig, reliever Ronald Belisario and Dodgers hitting coach Mark McGwire were ejected in the seventh inning after the prolonged scuffle against a railing that nearly spilled into the stands.

“There were four of us and what, 60 of them?” crew chief Brian Gorman said after the game.

In the top of the seventh, Greinke hit Diamondbacks catcher Miguel Montero in the back - drawing a warning from the umpire - and both teams came charging onto the field, but the scrum broke up quickly with no punches thrown.

“Puig gets hit in the face, Montero gets hit, it should have been really over at this point,” Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said.

Greinke hitting Montero was payback for Kennedy hitting Puig in bottom of the sixth - the ball deflected off Puig’s shoulder and grazed his nose. It wasn’t broken and he didn’t sustain a concussion, the team said.

Puig didn’t appear at his locker after the game to talk with reporters.

“If you can’t pitch inside without hitting someone in the head, you shouldn’t pitch inside,” Mattingly said.

AP