Braves vs. Marlins got heated fast. Pablo López threw one pitch, hit Ronald Acuña Jr. in the elbow, and immediately got tossed. The ump crew decided that enough was enough. Acuña has now been hit five times by Marlins pitchers, three times on the first pitch of the game. Braves manager Brian Snitker stormed out of the dugout and pushed for an ejection. The umpires huddled, agreed, and ran López before he could throw a second pitch.
Marlins manager Don Mattingly exploded. He argued there was no intent, no warnings, and insisted past incidents shouldn’t influence this call. He pointed out López had pitched Acuña up and in before without getting tossed. Mattingly didn’t hold back and eventually got ejected too after a long, profanity-filled rant at the ump. López looked baffled more than angry, calmly trying to plead his case while Mattingly kept yelling. The Marlins felt blindsided by the decision, but the umps made it clear they were done watching Acuña get plunked. The game barely began before it turned into a mess.