Padres' Fernando Tatis Jr. trolls Dodgers' Trevor Bauer twice after home runs; Bauer's fine with it

Tom Gatto

Padres' Fernando Tatis Jr. trolls Dodgers' Trevor Bauer twice after home runs; Bauer's fine with it image

Fernando Tatis Jr. added juice to the Padres-Dodgers rivalry Saturday night by expertly trolling LA starter Trevor Bauer. Twice.

Tatis got his first chance when he led off the game with a home run against the right-hander at Dodger Stadium. As Tatis got between first and second base, he turned toward the Padres' dugout and . . .

Well, see for yourself:

Yes, Tatis was letting everyone know that he remembered Bauer pitching with one eye closed against the Padres in spring training.

MORE: Tatis marks anniversary of dad's feat with two HRs in LA

Bauer told reporters after that outing that he was having fun and testing himself.

"I figured if they can’t score off of me with one eye open, it will be difficult to score off me with two eyes open," he said. "Just having a little bit of fun. There’s definitely a reason behind it. If I wanted to share, I would have already."

Tatis had something else for Bauer after homering against him again in the sixth. As Tatis crossed home plate, he mimicked Bauer's strut, which actually is Bauer paying homage to MMA star Conor McGregor.

Tatis told reporters after the Padres' 5-4 loss that he was responding to what Bauer did to him when the teams met in San Diego last Sunday. Bauer screamed and pounded his chest in celebration after striking out Tatis.

Bauer, for his part, said he was fine with Tatis doing it and with hitters in general celebrating. Bauer's response to a question about Tatis begins at 43 seconds in the video below.    

Saturday's game marked the sixth meeting between the NL West clubs in the season's first month. Each team has won three games. Game 7 will be Sunday in Los Angeles.

Tom Gatto

Tom Gatto Photo

Tom Gatto joined The Sporting News as a senior editor in 2000 after 12 years at The Herald-News in Passaic, N.J., where he served in a variety of roles including sports editor, and a brief spell at APBNews.com in New York, where he worked as a syndication editor. He is a 1986 graduate of the University of South Carolina.