Clayton Kershaw and Madison Bumgarner went head-to-head Monday night for the third time this season. The Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the San Francisco Giants each of the previous meetings, with Kershaw earning one win.
The Giants nearly came away with a victory in the pitchers’ duel, but their bullpen once again failed to protect a late-game lead. While Bumgarner turned in seven shutout innings with 10 strikeouts, that was overshadowed by his skirmish with Yasiel Puig.
After fielding a slow tapper up the first-base line, Bumgarner made the play to end the inning. He shouted out of excitement in Puig’s direction, then told the mercurial outfielder not to look at him.
Puig responded, “What? What are you going to do to me?” Bumgarner answered with the same message, though included expletives.
That led to both benches and bullpens clearing and plenty of shoving. There weren’t any ejections and play resumed after a few minutes. The Giants pinch-hit for Bumgarner in the eighth inning.
Monday’s run-in between Bumgarner and Puig wasn’t their first, and Bumgarner previously took issue with former Dodgers utility man Alex Guerrero. There weren’t ejections in any of the aforementioned dust-ups.
Puig said after the game he wasn’t certain why Bumgarner was yelling not to look at him, all the while looking at Puig.
