Dodgers: Cody Bellinger robs Fernando Tatis Jr. as Brusdar Graterol celebration sets off Padres

Cody Bellinger’s insane home run robbery of Fernando Tatis Jr. set a chain reaction in motion for the Dodgers and Padres.

Dodgers fans? Baseball! Is! Happening!

It all started after the Padres had tightened this Clayton Kershaw-driven affair to 4-3 with back-to-back homers in the sixth. Blake Treinen entered in the seventh as our muscles tensed slightly, then gave way to Brusdar Graterol to face Fernando Tatis Jr. with a runner on and two out.

Tatis Jr. did what Tatis Jr. does. He downright deposited a fastball deep into center field, with only the faintest hope of Cody Bellinger’s glovework standing in the way of a 5-4 deficit.

If you know magic, then you know the rest. The former first baseman GOT. ON. UP.

That’s a Mookie Betts catch by a non-Mookie Betts with the real Mookie Betts standing just off to the side. Jackie Bradley Jr. or Bellinger? Honestly?

Of course, the robbery also could not have come against a stronger and fast-developing enemy.

And then? The fighting began, egged on in part by Graterol’s A++ reaction to the play made behind him.

Bursting with exuberance (and how do you control yourself, after what you just watched?!), Graterol hucked any loose item of clothing attached to his body across the diamond. Glove? Gone. Hat? You know it’s on the turf. But it stoked the rivalry, which is exactly what we need right now as the Boys in Blue attempt to send the Dads one step closer to the offseason. Manny Machado, specifically, did NOT take this well.

Whew.

Rest assured, this will simmer overnight. It will get nasty, regardless of the final score. And it’s exactly what we needed.

Any chance you get to make Manny Machado angry, you firmly take that chance. Heading into a Game 3 that could very well be a closeout contest, we’ve now got a robbery for the ages and the offer of romance from Graterol to the entire Pads bench?

What more could you possibly want?!

Red Sox chairman takes cheap shot at Dodgers after Mookie Betts contract extension

Red Sox chairman Tom Werner sounds a bit hurt over the Dodgers signing Mookie Betts.