#Trevor Bauer liked Fernando Tatis Jr.’s ‘payback time’ trolling

Trevor Bauer didn’t mind the trolling. If anything, he welcomed it.

After Fernando Tatis Jr. took him deep twice, and mocked some of his celebrations, Bauer applauded him following the Dodgers’ 5-4 win over the Padres.

“I like it,” the reigning Cy Young award winner said. “I think that pitchers who have that done to them and react by throwing at people, or getting upset and hitting people or whatever — I think it’s pretty soft. If you give up a homer, the guy should celebrate it. It’s hard to hit in the big leagues.

“So, I’m all for it. And I think it’s important that the game moves in that direction, and we stop throwing at people because they celebrated having some success on the field.”

After going deep in the first inning, Tatis covered one of his eyes and turned back to his dugout as he rounded first base, a reminder of Bauer pitching with one eye closed during a spring training inning against the Padres. Following his second round-tripper, Tatis broke out a strut as he crossed the plate, mimicking Bauer.

“Payback time,” Tatis said. “It’s just fun. When you know you’re facing a guy like that — he’s doing his stuff, he’s having fun on the mound, and when you get him you get him, and you celebrate, too. He’s a hard guy to deal with.”

During the game, Bauer celebrated a strikeout of Padres first baseman Eric Hosmer by pretending to holster a sword. When Hosmer got a hit in his next at-bat, he returned the favor.

“We kind of laughed about it,” Bauer said. “We have a history together, we’ve played against each other for many years. That’s what it is to be a competitor. I’m going to go at you and I’m going to get you sometimes and you’re going to get me sometimes.

“We can have fun and we can celebrate it while we’re still competing at the highest level. I just thought that was an important note tonight.”