The 2026 MLB season’s first major brawl exploded Tuesday night during the Atlanta Braves’ 7-2 victory over the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium.
Soler and López were former teammates in Atlanta during the second half of the 2024 season.
The incident occurred in the bottom of the fifth inning with the Braves leading 4-2.
Atlanta starter Reynaldo López threw a high-and-inside fastball that flew toward Angels designated hitter Jorge Soler’s head and tipped off catcher Jonah Heim’s mitt.
Angels first baseman Nolan Schanuel was able to steal second base during the confusion.
Soler, who had already hit a homerun off López in the first inning and been hit by a pitch in his second at-bat, took strong offense to the pitch.
After a tense staredown, the two players exchanged words.
Soler later told reporters through a translator that he asked López “if everything was OK” and “the answer he gave me, I didn’t like it.”
That prompted Soler to charge the mound.
Both players immediately began throwing punches.
López, still holding the baseball in his right hand, landed a blow that knocked off Soler’s batting helmet.
WATCH:
Jorge Soler and Reynaldo López are throwing PUNCHES in Anaheim as a brawl breaks out pic.twitter.com/Uj4kOk07Ow
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) April 8, 2026
Bullpens from both teams emptied onto the field, and Braves manager Walt Weiss, who managed Soler during his time with Atlanta, tackled the slugger from behind to stop the fight.
Umpires quickly booted both Soler and López from the game.
As of Wednesday morning, MLB has not yet announced suspensions, but both players are widely expected to face multi-game bans for the fight.
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