Nico Hoerner Reacts as Dalton Rushing Appears to Slur Miguel Amaya

nico hoerner shot a testy look Saturday after a broadcast appeared to catch Dalton Rushing calling Miguel Amaya a "fat f—" during the Cubs-Dodgers game. The moment came in the top of the third, after a wild pitch from Roki Sasaki put Amaya on the move and briefly turned a routine play into a fresh flashpoint.

Rushing's throw came up late

Amaya ran on the wild pitch and Rushing recovered the ball quickly enough to try to get him at second, but the throw came in late. The broadcast then cut back to Rushing, who appeared to say the slur, and Hoerner's reaction immediately added another layer to the sequence.

That clip dropped into a larger stretch of scrutiny around Rushing. Last year he got all of one at-bat in the NLCS and struck out, and over the last few weeks he had already drawn attention after calling a Rockies win over the Dodgers "fishy" and getting into a saga with Jung Hoo Lee and the Giants.

Dodgers fans and players

Pete Crow-Armstrong made a point to separate his criticism of Dodgers fans from Dodgers players, a split that fits the broader context around this story. The Dodgers have been treated as friendly and likable by some around the game, but the backlash aimed at them has increasingly come from opposing fans, not just from one isolated exchange on the field.

Saturday's clip does not stand alone because Rushing was already becoming a target for criticism, and this latest moment keeps that focus on him. For the Cubs, the immediate takeaway was Hoerner's reaction in the middle of the play; for Rushing, the incident adds another hard-to-ignore line to a short but noisy run of attention.