Things can get quite heated in a baseball team’s dugout, and things probably crossed the line in an altercation between Miguel Olivo and Alex Guerrero, both Los Angeles Dodgers players on their AAA team the Albuquerque Isotopes, resulting in Olivo biting part of Guerrero’s ear off.

According to his agent, Scott Boras, Guerrero was taken to a local hospital where he underwent plastic surgery on his ear. The 27 year-old was signed for $28 million over four years by the Dodgers after he defected from Cuba to Haiti. He played in the two season openers in Australia before being moved to the Triple-A team in New Mexico.

The problems with Olivo, the 35-year old catcher with plenty of major league experience, began on the mound during a pitching change at the bottom of the 7th inning and carries on through the bottom of the 8th. Olivo got upset with Guerrero who failed to tag a runner off an Olivo throw, and what started with verbal accusations and arguments soon became physical, all according to Boras, who is Guerrero’s agent so might not be the most objective of people to tell the story.

The Dodgers released a statement saying they were aware and investigating the incident, and general manager Ned Colletti said he had already spoken to the Isotopes’ coaching staff about it. We don’t condone it, and we don’t think it’s constructive. People can have disagreements. When it gets beyond that level, it’s over the limit.

The Dodgers expected Guerrero to play for them at second base but his defense needed a lot of work. He has been hitting really well for the Isotopes: .376 with 10 home runs and 29 RBIs and has been getting playing time in other positions. Once his defense comes along, he’ll probably get the call up to the majors again in order to help the most expensive roster in baseball make the playoffs, or possibly wait for next season.

He has been especially hot in recent weeks, batting .457 with six home runs and 17 RBIs over the last 11 games. He was 2-for-3 before being removed from the game after his altercation with Olivo, who was also pulled from the game at the end of that inning.