Braves React to Fight Night With Jorge Soler, Angels

On Tuesday night, fans went out to a fight, and a baseball game broke out. The Atlanta Braves emerged with a 7-2 win over the Los Angeles Angels, but the final score was far from the main point of interest on the night.

Benches cleared in the bottom of the fifth inning after former Braves World Series MVP Jorge Soler squared up with starting pitcher Reynaldo López.

Here’s what just took place in Anaheim: pic.twitter.com/hL1myd5PJd
— BravesVision (@BravesVisionTV) April 8, 2026

It was the first time that López had had a player charge him on the mound during his career. He insisted it was a misunderstanding and that he had never intended to hit Soler with a pitch.

“We spent time together as teammates, and so I just think that it was a misunderstanding, because I never would have to do anything or, you know, I wasn’t trying to hit him, and there’s never any intent on my part,” López said, via Braves director of baseball player relations Franco García translating.

It was a whole song and dance with a familiar face in the team's recent lore, Jorge Soler. After he hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the first inning, Reynaldo López beaned him when he was back up to bat in the bottom of the third. But that wasn't where tempers flared; they had a bit longer to simmer.

Once López threw a wild pitch high during Soler's third trip to the plate, a stare-down commenced. López appeared to egg him on a bit, and Solar obliged. Regardless of whether the wild pitch was intentional, both players were ready to go.

Both López and Soler were ejected from the game. Tyler Kinley came into relieve López, while Jeimer Candelario took over Soler. Manager Walt Weiss said that while López's wild pitch wasn't intentional, he felt that getting him out of the game was the right call. The emotions were running too high.

The highlights of the brawl weren’t limited to the interactions between López and Soler. Weiss found himself at the center of it in the effort to defend his players. He swooped in and tackled Soler to the ground.

Weiss insisted after the game that Soler is typically a mild-mannered guy, but the switch flipped as the situation got heated. However, in that situation, he felt he did what he had to do.

“That’s a big man,” Weiss said after the game. “And so, I just felt I got to get him off his feet, because he’s gonna hurt somebody. And that was just, yeah, that was my instinct, just to get in there and get Jorgie of him feet. Yeah, because he was on a warpath.”

Seeing someone get bodied by their former bench coach is not something you get to see every day. However, it’s not the most surprising sight.

The word around Braves circles is that Weiss isn't someone you want to have coming your way. He'll take you out. Keep the following in mind: He's a former high school football coach who is a black belt in taekwondo. He can fight. He can tackle.

"You know he has our back," Ozzie Albies said in a postgame interview with BravesVision. "So, to see that, you know, really set the tone for the team, and when your manager can get out there and do stuff like that, it's amazing."

In other news, the rest of the game was played out. The Braves took home the win on Tuesday night (or Wednesday morning if you watched the final out from the East Coast). Following the brawl, the Braves responded by plating three more runs to put the game away.

The Braves aim to take the series over the Angels on Wednesday. Grant Holmes for a 4:07 p.m. EDT first pitch.