Things got heated in the Venezuelan Championship Series after Luis Torrens homered in the second inning, celebrated with a flashy bat flip, and got drilled in the ribs during his next at-bat. That set the tone for the rest of the night. Teammate Pak tried to keep things calm at first, stepping in as a peacemaker. He talked with the pitcher and umpires, trying to keep tempers from boiling over. But the game kept escalating.
By the eighth inning, after Michel Franco launched a game-tying bomb and taunted nearly the entire opposing team during his trot, emotions exploded. Shouting turned to shoving, and the benches cleared. While most players got in each other’s faces, Pak tried once again to cool things down, even as he got drinks thrown at him from the stands. Things turned when a player from the other team sucker-punched him. That flipped a switch. Pak unloaded with punches of his own as chaos broke loose and helmets bounced around like beach balls.
Eventually, the dust settled. Somehow, Pak didn’t get tossed, and the game continued—briefly. The team that started the fight ended up losing the lead after a dropped fly ball and a big three-run homer. No one won the brawl, but one team definitely lost the inning.