{"id":56927,"date":"2025-06-18T08:49:12","date_gmt":"2025-06-18T08:49:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=56927"},"modified":"2025-06-18T08:49:12","modified_gmt":"2025-06-18T08:49:12","slug":"dodgers-newest-star-sends-strong-message-after-incident","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=56927","title":{"rendered":"Dodgers Newest Star Sends Strong Message After Incident"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"c-content entry-content\">\n<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\" class=\"has-video wp-caption \">\n<div class=\"h-responsive\">\n<figure class=\"h-responsive__inner\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-featured-image size-featured-image wp-post-image\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250617_185146_0000.png?w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250617_185146_0000.png?w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250617_185146_0000.png?w=1100&amp;quality=15&amp;strip=all 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250617_185146_0000.png?w=1350&amp;quality=35&amp;strip=all 1350w\" alt=\"Los Angeles Dodgers vs San Diego Padres\" width=\"780\" height=\"439\" data-dom-ready-time=\"1602\" data-img-load-time=\"2456\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"caption-credit\">Getty<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Monday night\u2019s clash between the\u00a0Los Angeles Dodgers\u00a0and the\u00a0San Diego Padres\u00a0had all the tension of October in June.\u00a0Shohei Ohtani\u00a0made his long-awaited Dodgers pitching debut. L.A. was riding a two-game winning streak. San Diego, desperate to avoid falling further behind, handed the ball to\u00a0Dylan Cease, one of their few dependable arms this season.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">And then came the fourth inning.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">With the Dodgers already leading and the game teetering on blowout status, Cease hit outfielder\u00a0Andy Pages with a 98-mph fastball. Pages, clearly not buying the idea that it was accidental, glared at Cease as he made his way to first base. The benches didn\u2019t clear, but both bullpens stirred. Tensions simmered.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u201cI think they thought I was relaying signs,\u201d\u00a0Pages said postgame, referencing chatter from the Padres dugout. \u201cIt\u2019s impossible that he can\u2019t miss a slider on the corner and he missed a fastball a strike zone inside.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Whether or not the pitch was intentional, Pages\u2019 reaction\u2014and Cease\u2019s\u2014have turned the 24-year-old Cuban outfielder into something bigger than a name in the box score. He\u2019s now the face of a Dodgers team that\u2019s tired of being tested, both literally and figuratively.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Cease Says He\u2019s Not Backing Down<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Cease, to his credit, didn\u2019t backpedal. He\u00a0told reporters he was confused\u00a0by the reaction and made it clear he\u2019ll continue to pitch inside.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u201cI don\u2019t know if I\u2019ve ever hit a Dodger before,\u201d\u00a0Cease said. \u201cIt\u2019s not going to deter me from throwing inside.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">That might sound like standard pitcher-speak, but in the context of this rivalry\u2014especially after\u00a0Manny Machado\u2019s past dustups with Dodgers players\u2014it feels like fuel on a fire.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">It\u2019s also a statement the Dodgers won\u2019t forget if these two teams meet again with more on the line.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Pages Shows the Fire L.A. Needs<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">What makes this situation more than a mid-June flare-up is the symbolic role Pages now plays. The Dodgers aren\u2019t just a collection of stars\u2014they\u2019re a team looking to get younger and hungrier. Pages,\u00a0hitting .282 with power\u00a0and poise since being called up, represent that next wave. And he just sent a message to the Padres and anyone else paying attention: he won\u2019t be intimidated.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u201cI reacted on adrenaline,\u201d\u00a0Pages admitted. \u201cWhat happened, happened. I tried to find a way to apologize\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">It\u2019s hard to imagine\u00a0Mookie Betts\u00a0or\u00a0Freddie Freeman\u00a0reacting that way\u2014not because they wouldn\u2019t be upset, but because veterans often absorb these moments with restraint. But for a team that\u2019s frequently accused of being too polished and too corporate, a little visible fire might be precisely what they need.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">What\u2019s Next?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">For now, MLB likely won\u2019t take action. There was no fight, no ejections, just tension. But the incident adds fuel to a rivalry that\u2019s struggled to live up to its billing since the Padres upset the\u00a0Dodgers in the 2022 playoffs.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">As for Pages, he\u2019s already moved on.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">But make no mistake\u2014Pages just earned his stripes in Dodger Blue. And the next time Dylan Cease steps on the mound, both dugouts will remember what happened in the fourth inning. Because sometimes it\u2019s not just about the hit\u2014it\u2019s about how you stand after it.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Getty Monday night\u2019s clash between the\u00a0Los Angeles Dodgers\u00a0and the\u00a0San Diego Padres\u00a0had all the tension of October in June.\u00a0Shohei Ohtani\u00a0made his long-awaited Dodgers pitching debut. L.A. was riding&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":56928,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-56927","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Dodgers Newest Star Sends Strong Message After Incident - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=56927\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dodgers Newest Star Sends Strong Message After Incident - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Getty Monday night\u2019s clash between the\u00a0Los Angeles Dodgers\u00a0and the\u00a0San Diego Padres\u00a0had all the tension of October in June.\u00a0Shohei Ohtani\u00a0made his long-awaited Dodgers pitching debut. 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