MLBBy Andrew Bucholtz on

Giants-Dodgers games have often seen plenty of emotion, and that emotion boiled over into a brawl Monday night, with the Dodgers’ Yasiel Puig and the Giants’ Madison Bumgarner providing the spark.

Bumgarner was having a great outing, with Puig the only one to get a hit off him off a double early on. Tempers then flared when Puig came up later. Bumgarner threw out Puig at first in the bottom of the seventh, and the two then had words, which then got physical, and the benches cleared.

Here’s the immediate aftermath, with Jeff Samardzija and Matt Cain pulling Bumgarner away:

Here’s the replay of Bumgarner trying to go after Puig, Giants’ first baseman Brandon Belt getting between them, and the benches clearing:

And here’s the reverse angle shot of Bumgarner jawing at Puig, then rushing towards him:

Here’s the GIF of Bumgarner’s profane diatribe at Puig:

The sides were eventually separated with no ejections. It’s not particularly surprising to see tempers flare between these rivals, but it’s unusual to see it go to this extent, and it’s especially notable given the prominence of both players involved here.

This also may have led to San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy’s decision to pull Bumgarner immediately afterwards despite his seven innings of one-hit, shutout ball and only 97 pitches thrown, which wound up costing the Giants later. While San Francisco maintained a 1-0 lead into the bottom of the ninth, the Dodgers scored two runs there to win 2-1:

If Bumgarner had stayed in the game, might the Giants have hung on? We’ll never know, but the fight certainly adds yet another interesting dimension to this one.

It’s also interesting to see this fight given what was on the line. The Dodgers were pushing to maintain control of the NL West, while the Giants were looking both to make up ground on them and further secure their wild-card position. Despite the high stakes, or perhaps partly because of them, this one certainly boiled over.

Update: This has become a for-sale thing:

And the internet has erupted in memes, with even a former Dodger getting in on it:

[Matt Clapp on Clippit]

About Andrew Bucholtz

Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.

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