Dodger Stadium collectively gasped when slugger Joey Votto took a pitch to the head in Friday night’s game between the Reds and the Dodgers.
With the left-handed Votto at the plate to leadoff the top of the sixth inning, Los Angeles reliever Tyler Anderson lost control of an 79 MPH, off-speed pitch and hit the Cincinnati first baseman in the head. Votto dropped to the ground as his helmet spun away before quickly getting back on his feet.
That wasn’t the end of the interaction as Anderson walked towards the first-base line to seemingly check on Votto. The Reds slugger clearly didn’t want to hear it and appeared to have a few choice words for the Dodgers pitcher as he strolled to first.
Although he appeared upset in the moment, Votto seemed to have cooled down after the game. He took to Twitter to make light of the high-and-inside pitch, referencing a viral TikTok video to make a joke about the words exchanged between him and Anderson.
Votto was thrown out at second on a fielder’s choice in the subsequent at-bat, but Cincinnati would go on to score a run in the top of the sixth inning. That would be all the Reds could scrape together on Friday as they fell to the Dodgers, 3–1.
After dropping the first two games of the four-game series in Los Angeles, Cincinnati (2–6) will have a chance to get back on track on Saturday evening.
