LOS ANGELES – Steven Souza Jr.’s aggressive slide into third base in the fifth inning on Tuesday night drew an angry reaction from the Dodgers’ dugout, but the Diamondbacks right fielder wasn’t about to apologize for the play.
Souza slid hard into Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy on an attempted stolen base, then heard about it from the home dugout, including lefty Alex Wood, prompting Souza to yell back and gesture in response.
Souza’s argument on the field and in a postgame scrum with reporters was that he plays the game the same way the Dodgers’ Chase Utley plays it – hard – and he referenced Utley’s hard slide into Diamondbacks shortstop Nick Ahmed during a game at Chase Field last week.