Tempers flare between D-backs, Dodgers after Souza’s slide into third

The Arizona Diamondbacks and Los Angeles Dodgers have continued to have their rivalry grow as both teams look to contend in the National League.

The rivalry stepped up another notch on Tuesday when D-backs right fielder Steven Souza Jr. got into it with the Dodgers bench.

In the top of the fifth inning, Souza was on second base and on an attempted steal, slid hard into third base.

Souza mistimed his slide, going in late and towards the side of Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy, away from the bag.

“I play with a lot of passion, and sometimes that can come across like it’s dirty. I played with Max Muncy in the Fall League so I would never try to maliciously hurt him by any means,” Souza told reporters, per the Associated Press.

“When I saw Muncy’s reaction I felt terrible automatically, so I felt like it wasn’t necessary to hear anything from the dugout. Alex Wood felt the need to say something from the dugout to protect his teammate.”

Here is Souza's slide pic.twitter.com/PbKVj5uyex

— Zach Buchanan (@ZHBuchanan) May 9, 2018

After being ruled out, Souza quickly checked on Muncy to make sure he was OK.

All appeared to be fine after that, but that changed in a hurry when Souza began having an animated conversation with the Dodgers dugout.

Taking his helmet off, Souza was shown pointing at second base.

That could be a reference to the May 3 matchup at Chase Field when Dodgers second baseman Chase Utley slid right into Nick Ahmed’s right foot at second base.

Souza had a good view of that play, as he was the one throwing the ball in from right field.

Utley, of course, has a history of dirty slides, as he broke the Mets’ Ruben Tejada’s leg with a slide in the 2015 National League Divisional Series.

Souza would continue jawing at the Dodgers bench but nothing escalated beyond that, as neither dugout cleared.

“Everybody that knows him knows that he’s very passionate,” Lovullo said of Souza to reporters after the game.

Lovullo noted Souza plays with aggression and he wanted to avoid “some chaos in that situation where both benches clear.”

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