The MLB game between the Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday turned into an all-out brawl when Angels designated hitter Jorge Soler charged the mound in the fifth inning.
Punches were landed, and Braves manager Walt Weiss tackled Soler to stop it from getting worse.
The trouble had been building all night. Soler crushed a two-run homer off Braves starter Reynaldo Lopez in the first inning. Lopez then drilled Soler with a 96 mph fastball in the third. When a pitch in the fifth sailed high inside, Soler stared down Lopez.
After a delay, Soler charged the mound. Lopez, gripping a baseball in one hand, threw punches back and landed one right in Soler’s face. Both benches and bullpens quickly emptied. The fist fight spilled toward the first-base line before players from both teams wrestled the combatants apart.
Take a look —
Here’s an angle of the brawl where you can see Reynaldo Lopez land a blow on Jorge Soler with the baseball in his hand pic.twitter.com/dSucXM4T9c
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) April 8, 2026
An uncut version of the brawl between the Angels and Braves started by Reynaldo Lopez and Jorge Soler pic.twitter.com/ZAehn0jqY4
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) April 8, 2026
“Obviously, I have good numbers against him,” Soler said after the game. “After the home run and getting hit by a pitch after that, and then he missed way too high and close to my head. At this level, you can’t miss like that.”
Weiss, a former Braves teammate of Soler’s from 2021 and 2024, took matters into his own hands — literally.
“I love Soler. We were teammates here,” Weiss said. “But that’s a big man. I just felt I gotta get him off his feet because he’s gonna hurt somebody. And so that was my instinct, just to get in there and get Jorge off his feet, because he was on a warpath.”
Soler held no grudge over the tackle.
“We have a good relationship. I don’t think he tried to do anything against me. We’re friends. I think he was just trying to protect me,” Soler said.
Take a look —
follow #22, that's WALT WEISS WITH THE PERFECT TACKLE 💀
what a manager, i am so proud right now pic.twitter.com/xSJ0kPdV82
— megañ (@3×5) April 8, 2026
Both Soler and Lopez were ejected. Lopez later insisted the high pitch was not intentional.
“It’s just a shame, the situation and how things unfolded,” Lopez said through an interpreter. “On my part, there was never any intent to hit him at any point. So again, it’s just a shame.”
Weiss backed his pitcher but acknowledged how it looked.
“I know it didn’t look good because of Soler’s numbers against Lopez and he hit a homer and he hit him,” Weiss said. “Lopez is not throwing at him. I don’t allow our pitchers to throw at people just because they can’t get them out. Our job is to get them out. But I understand why Soler got angry. And he’s a really mild-mannered guy. So I think the switch flipped for him.”
The Braves won 7-2, improving to 7-5 on the season. The Angels fell to 6-6. Both Soler and Lopez are expected to face discipline from Major League Baseball. The two teams wrap up their three-game series Wednesday.