Lawyer gives defense for Dodgers’ pitcher.

LOS ANGELES — An attorney for Trevor Bauer told a judge Monday that the Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher had every reason to believe that a woman wanted the choking and other rough treatment he gave her in two sexual encounters that led to her seeking a fiveyear restraining order against him.

Shawn Holley said in opening statements at a hearing in Los Angeles Superior Court that the 27-year-old San Diego woman told Bauer in private Instagram messages that she had “never been more turned on in my life” than when he choked her to unconsciousness during their first encounter in April and that she wanted more of the same when they got together again in May. Holley said the woman told Bauer in the messages to give her “all the pain.”

The woman alleges that without her consent, Bauer punched her, choked her with her own hair until she lost consciousness, and had anal sex with her against her will.

Bauer was put on paid administrative leave on July 2 by Major League Baseball. That has been extended through Friday. MLB and police in Pasadena are investigating the woman’s allegations. Bauer’s representatives have repeatedly said everything that happened between the two was consensual.

The woman was granted a temporary restraining order until a hearing could be held and evidence presented for a long-term order.

The woman took the stand briefly before the Monday lunch break, and was scheduled to return for the afternoon.

She testified that she was the daughter of a baseball coach and a lifelong fan who rooted for the San Diego Padres. She said that while watching him on TV she was attracted to Bauer and his quirks, including his closing one eye while pitching.

She tagged him in an Instagram story while watching a game with her mother in April, when Bauer was pitching against the Padres. She had no expectation he would respond. But he sent her a direct message 10-15 minutes after the game, and the two began messaging each other.

The woman’s attorneys are arguing that she and Bauer had what should be considered a dating relationship, which would make the type of domestic violence restraining order she is seeking appropriate. Attorney Lisa Helfend Meyer emphasized that the two shared intimate details of each of their lives, both in messages before their meetings at his home in Pasadena and in hours of conversation when they were together.

Bauer’s attorneys dispute that, framing the relationship as a casual one based on sex.