Major League Baseball descended into chaos after an explosive brawl between the Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Angels.
The Braves claimed a comfortable 7-2 victory on Tuesday to move to 6-6 for the season.
But the result was marred by an astonishing fight that broke out between Braves pitcher Reynaldo Lopez and Angels hitter Jorge Soler in the fifth inning.
It started from Lopez pitching a high ball to Soler which catcher Jonah Heim was forced to retrieve.
He launched it to second base for an unsuccessful tag out, and when the cameras cut back Lopez and Soler were furiously swinging punches at each other.
Players from both sides swarmed the pair in an attempt to diffuse the situation — while a host of people came running across the field to get involved.
Replays showed the two appeared to exchange some words, with Lopez putting his arms up in bemusement.
Soler, who earlier in the night had been hit by a pitch after scoring a home run, then ran straight at Lopez, but it was the Braves man who appeared to land the only telling blow to the side of his opponent’s head.
Soler’s helmet came flying off amid the chaos — before they were split up by teammates.
Braves manager Walt Weiss was the man who ended up tackling Soler to the ground — and both men were then sent from the field.
After the game, Weiss said: “I love Soler, you know, we were teammates here.
“But that’s a big man. I thought, I’ve got to get him off his feet because he’s going to hurt somebody.
“So that was my instinct, just to get in there and get Jorge off his feet. Yeah, he was on the warpath.
“I know it didn’t look good because of Soler’s numbers, he hit a homer and he hit him. It didn’t look good.
“I hope he’s not throwing at him. I don’t allow our pitchers to throw at people just because they can’t get them out. Our job is to get them out.
“But I understand why Soler got angry. And he’s a really mild-mannered now, so I think the switch flipped for him.
“There was no intent, I just think the low ball’s just overthrowing because he’s had a hard time getting him out. But he’s certainly not trying to hit him.
“It gets your juices flowing a bit on both teams, I’m sure. As long as nobody gets hurt, it’s kind of a good time, you know? As long as nobody gets hurt.”
Reacting to the clip of the brawl, Mannie O said: “Braves vs Angels just turned Angel Stadium into a boxing ring.”
Chief Goddiz added: “Soler charging the mound, Weiss tackling like it’s the Super Bowl. Baseball fights never disappoint.”
Knoxville Dude reacted: “Lopez didn’t drop the ball the entire time.”
And Natureloving joked: “Come on kiddos, gotta play nice in the sand box!”
