ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Atlanta Braves pitcher Reynaldo López and Los Angeles Angels designated hitter Jorge Soler were ejected after getting into a brawl Tuesday night.
Soler homered off López in the first inning, then was hit by a 96 mph fastball from the right-hander his next time up. In the fifth, Soler charged the mound after López threw a high-and-inside wild pitch that tipped off catcher Jonah Heim's mitt.
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A fight breaks out during the fifth inning of a baseball game between the Los Angeles Angels and the Atlanta Braves, Tuesday, April 7, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
Atlanta Braves pitcher Reynaldo López (40) is held back after a fight broke out during the fifth inning of a baseball game between the Los Angeles Angels and the Atlanta Braves, Tuesday, April 7, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
Los Angeles Angels' Jorge Soler (12) is tackled to the ground by Atlanta Braves players as a fight breaks out during the fifth inning of a baseball game, Tuesday, April 7, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
A fight breaks out during the fifth inning of a baseball game between the Los Angeles Angels and the Atlanta Braves, Tuesday, April 7, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
Los Angeles Angels' Jorge Soler (12) and Atlanta Braves' Reynaldo López (40) fight during the fifth inning of a baseball game, Tuesday, April 7, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
At first, López held up his hands as the two glared at each other before both started throwing punches.
“I asked him if everything was OK and the answer he gave me, I didn’t like it,” Soler said through a translator, according to MLB.com. “That’s why I went out there.”
The benches and bullpens emptied as players from both teams tried to separate the two. Atlanta manager Walt Weiss was among those who tackled Soler, the 2021 World Series MVP with the Braves.
“I love Soler. We were teammates here,” Weiss said. “But that’s a big man, and so I just felt I've 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, yeah, because he was on a warpath.”
López was still holding the baseball when he landed a punch on Soler's batting helmet.
The two were teammates in Atlanta during the second half of the 2024 season.
“It’s just a shame, the situation and how things unfolded,” López said through a translator, according to MLB.com. “On my part, there was never any intent to hit him at any point. So, again, it’s just a shame.”
Atlanta led 4-2 when the fight occurred and went on to a 7-2 victory.
Soler's two-run shot in the first made him 14 for 23 with five homers and three doubles against López.
“Obviously, I have good numbers against him,” Soler said. “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 understood why Soler was mad.
“I know it didn’t look good because of Soler’s numbers against Lópey, and he hit a homer, he hit him. It didn’t look good," Weiss said. "Lópey’s not throwing at him. I don’t allow our pitchers to throw at people just because they can’t get ’em out. Our job is to get ’em out. But I understand why Soler got angry. And he’s a really mild-mannered guy. So, I think the switch flipped for him.
“There was no intent there. I just think that Lópey’s just overthrowing, because he’s had a hard time getting him out. But he’s certainly not trying to hit him,” Weiss added.
López pitched 4 2/3 innings, allowing three hits with seven strikeouts and two walks.
“Obviously, guy’s got good numbers off López, and hits a homer his first at-bat. Gets drilled up high in the wrist his second at-bat and then third one takes a good swing and then throws the next one head-high. It wasn’t over his head but it was head-high coming in," Angels manager Kurt Suzuki said.
“I don’t blame Jorge one bit. He went out there and words were exchanged and Jorge went out,” Suzuki added. “You get thrown at your head, you have a family, your career, you know, it’s dangerous. I know it’s part of the game. I know it happens."
The Angels won 6-2 on Monday in the opener of the three-game series. Tuesday night's game was more eventful, to say the least.
“It gets your juices flowing a little bit, on both teams I’m sure," Weiss said. "So, as long as nobody gets hurt, it’s kind of a good time. But as long as nobody gets hurt. But yeah, I was proud of our guys the way we handled everything tonight.”
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/mlb
A fight breaks out during the fifth inning of a baseball game between the Los Angeles Angels and the Atlanta Braves, Tuesday, April 7, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
Atlanta Braves pitcher Reynaldo López (40) is held back after a fight broke out during the fifth inning of a baseball game between the Los Angeles Angels and the Atlanta Braves, Tuesday, April 7, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
Los Angeles Angels' Jorge Soler (12) is tackled to the ground by Atlanta Braves players as a fight breaks out during the fifth inning of a baseball game, Tuesday, April 7, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
A fight breaks out during the fifth inning of a baseball game between the Los Angeles Angels and the Atlanta Braves, Tuesday, April 7, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
Los Angeles Angels' Jorge Soler (12) and Atlanta Braves' Reynaldo López (40) fight during the fifth inning of a baseball game, Tuesday, April 7, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australia’s most decorated living veteran, Ben Roberts-Smith, did not apply for bail when the war crime murder charges against him were listed in a Sydney court Wednesday.
Roberts-Smith was awarded both the Victoria Cross and Medal of Gallantry for his service in Afghanistan and is only the second Australian veteran of the Afghanistan campaign to be charged with a war crime.
The charges follow a military report released in 2020 that found evidence that elite Australian Special Air Service and commando regiment troops unlawfully killed 39 Afghan prisoners, farmers and other noncombatants. Around 40,000 Australian military personnel served in Afghanistan between 2001 and 2021, of whom 41 were killed.
The allegations against Roberts-Smith relate to the deaths of five Afghan people who died in 2009 and 2012 while he served in Afghanistan as an elite SAS corporal. Police allege he either shot his victims or ordered a subordinate to shoot them in Uruzgan province where Australia's forces were based.
Police said he had been charged Tuesday with five counts of war crime murder. But the charges laid in court Wednesday were two counts of war crime murder and three counts of aiding or abetting a war crime murder. All charges carry the same potential maximum sentence of life in prison.
The charges allege Roberts-Smith killed and caused a subordinate to kill at Kakarak village on April 12, 2009. He allegedly caused a subordinate to kill at Darwan village on Sept. 11, 2012. He allegedly killed and caused a subordinate to kill at Syahchow village on Oct. 20, 2012.
Australian law defines war crime murder as the intentional killing in a context of armed conflict of a person who is not taking an active part in the hostilities, such as a civilian, prisoner of war or a wounded soldier.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described Roberts-Smith's arrest as a “difficult time” for the Australian Defense Force.
“We should give thanks every day for the men and women who wear our uniform, who are prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice on behalf of our nation, to keep our Australian way of life going forward. That doesn’t change,” Albanese told Sky News television.
“It’s important that this not be politicized, and I have no intention of commenting on what is a legal process,” Albanese added.
Opposition leader Angus Taylor called on the federal government, known as the Commonwealth of Australia, to pay for the legal defenses of all military personnel prosecuted for war crimes, including Roberts-Smith.
“It is an imperative that the Commonwealth provide anyone who’s prosecuted in this process, including Ben Roberts-Smith, with ... the financial support they need to defend themselves and to ensure that there is a fair trial,” Taylor told reporters. “The presumption of innocence is crucial.”
John Howard, who as Australia's then-prime minister first committed Australian troops to fight in Afghanistan in 2001, said Roberts-Smith's arrest would emotionally impact millions of Australians.
“This is a difficult issue for many, as it tests to the limits not only our respect for Australian values, but the deep and special reverence we have for those who put their lives on the line to keep us safe,” Howard said in a statement.
The Australian Special Air Service Association, which represents current and former members of the elite regiment, said some may be required to testify against former comrades. Others must defend themselves against “grave allegations.”
“These realities are deeply confronting for a close and enduring community,” the association said in a statement.
Roberts-Smith, 47, spent the night in jail after he was arrested at the Sydney Airport on Tuesday morning, and he did not appear in court either in person or by video link Wednesday.
His lawyers did not enter pleas to the charges or apply for his release on bail. The case was adjourned until June 4.
A civil court has already found similar allegations against Roberts-Smith credible in a defamation suit he brought after newspapers published articles in 2018 accusing him of a range of war crimes. In 2023, a federal judge rejected Roberts-Smith’s claims and ruled that he likely killed four noncombatants unlawfully in 2009 and 2012.
But while the civil court found the war crimes allegations were mostly proven on a balance of probabilities, the war crime murder charges would have to be proved in a criminal court to a higher standard of beyond reasonable doubt.
Media magnate Kerry Stokes helped fund Roberts-Smith's civil court action. Roberts-Smith quit his job as a state manager of Stokes' Seven West Media in 2023 after losing the defamation case.
During his defamation trial, Roberts-Smith had testified that he had never killed an unarmed Afghan and denied ever committing a war crime. He claimed he has the victim of spiteful fellow soldiers' lies and of others' envy of his medals.
Roberts-Smith is the second Australian veteran of the Afghanistan campaign to be charged with a war crime.
Former SAS soldier Oliver Schulz has pleaded not guilty to a charge of war crime murder. He is accused of shooting Afghan man Dad Mohammad three times in the head in an Uruzgan province wheat field in 2012.
Prosecutors and defense lawyers said Schulz's trial is unlikely to be held before 2027.
In 2024, the government announced that several serving and former Australian military commanders had been stripped of medals over allegations of war crimes committed in Afghanistan.
Holding commanders to account for alleged misconduct of Australian special forces between 2005 and 2016 had been recommended in the war crime investigation report made public in 2020.
FILE - Britain's Queen Elizabeth II greets Corp. Ben Roberts-Smith from Australia, who was recently awarded the Victoria Cross, during an audience at Buckingham Palace in London, Nov. 15, 2011. (Anthony Devlin/Pool via AP, File)
FILE - Ben Roberts-Smith arrives at the Federal Court in Sydney, Australia, on June 9, 2021. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft, File)
