Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Dalton Rushing was a little suspicious of his team’s opponents over the weekend, and fans made sure to clown him for it.
The Dodgers began a four-game series on the road against the Colorado Rockies that many expected to be one-sided in favor of the back-to-back World Series champions. That held true for the series opener — a 7-1 Dodgers win.
The Rockies battled back in Saturday’s rematch, upsetting the visitors 4-3 at Coors Field in Denver, Colo. After the game, Rushing made a rather controversial remark about the home team potentially employing “fishy” tactics to ambush first pitches.
“I think they had a good game plan as an opposing team, and maybe I pitched into their game plan,” Rushing told reporters.
“As far as calling pitches, I’m not 100% sure. I just, I think it’s odd some of those hitters that do what they do, they go up there and they were only on the first pitch that was thrown. So it’s a little fishy.”
Dalton Rushing said it was ‘a little fishy’ how the #Rockies hitters were swinging at the first pitch and connecting. Rushing found it very odd.
— Fredo Cervantes (@FredoCervantes) April 19, 2026
“I think they had a good game plan as an opposing team, and maybe I pitched into their game plan. As far as calling pitches, I'm not… pic.twitter.com/ftqnzlRC92
Several fans found it humorous that Rushing would accuse the Rockies, a team that has lost 100+ games in three consecutive seasons, of cheating.
Imagine accusing the worst team in baseball of cheating
— Midwest Cappers (@Midwest_Cappers) April 19, 2026
Are signs coming from the dugout or is he slow?
— BasedHits (@BasedHits) April 19, 2026
Ya they hacked ur pitch com buddy and everyone on the Rockies is wearing pitch coms under their helmet…
This is the worst take I’ve heard from a ball player in a long time.
It is a known fact that the world conspires against the poor Dodgers. In a cutthroat world of fiends and two-faced jackals they truly suffer the most. Don’t you just feel so bad for them?
— For Glory Rememberer (@BenLakind) April 19, 2026
The Dodgers lose one game to a team like the Rockies and the answer has to be “because they cheated” 😂
— James Donohue (@Cool_Hip_Jim) April 19, 2026
If the Rockies have been employing some trash-can-banging shenanigans, they haven’t been doing a very good job of capitalizing on them. Colorado entered Saturday’s rematch with an 8-14 record.
The Rockies also have the highest first-pitch swing rate based on Statcast. Perhaps Colorado’s group of professional baseball players knows how to get a few hits at the plate.
The Dodgers actually out-hit the Rockies 8 to 7 in the contest. Only 2 of Colorado’s hits came on first-pitch swings.
