Game 3 of the NLDS between the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres already has pent up tension after Game 2’s incidents of thrown objects, players jawing at each other from opposite teams, and the historic rivalry sprinkled on top.
But Padres star third baseman Manny Machado throwing a ball into the Dodgers’ dugout – a dugout he used to share as a member of the team – has gone all the way to the MLB league office for investigation, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Manager Dave Roberts also believes that Machado wasn’t simply putting the ball out of play with Padres pitcher Yu Darvish getting another from his catcher.
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Roberts said he thought Machado purposefully whipped the ball at the dugout, which almost hit him, after seeing video that has gone viral.
"I didn’t notice it at the time. I really didn’t," Roberts said on Monday, per the New York Post. "I didn’t notice it. I did see the video and it was unsettling. Obviously, I have a relationship with Manny from years past. There was intent behind it. It didn’t almost hit me because there was a net.
"And that was very bothersome. If it was intended at me, I would be very – it’s pretty disrespectful. So I don’t know his intent. I don’t want to speak for him. But I did see the video. And the ball was directed at me with something behind it. But I don’t know what led to that. I didn’t see it in real time, but I did see the video."
Machado was at the center of one aspect of the Game 2 drama, as he was seen yelling at Dodgers starter Jack Flaherty, who told him to "sit the f--- down, motherf-----" after striking him out in the sixth inning.
Machado, now at third base, continued to have a war of words with Flaherty, and appeared to say he’d meet him after the game.
Flaherty explained why they were barking at each other.
"He did some s--- between innings where he throws the ball at our dugout and everybody kind of catches the tail end of it, which is me and him going at it," Flaherty said, referencing the ball thrown in the direction of Roberts. "I was sitting there for my team, I wasn’t going at him, but he was throwing the ball at our dugout and the umpires went over immediately to tell him – don’t know what their conversation was, but our dugout was fired up because there ain’t no reason for that."
It is normal for players to toss balls out of play when they’re not in use, sometimes trickling them toward the opposing dugout. But Machado clearly put some velocity on the throw, though he said there was nothing behind the reason for doing so.
"I throw balls all the time into dugouts. Both dugouts," he said, per The Post. "They have bat boys, you throw the ball back in there."
Roberts added that he shook his head at Machado while the third baseman and Flaherty were going back and forth, with his reasoning being to dissuade Machado that Fernando Tatis Jr. was hit on purpose by his pitcher the inning prior.
"As a baseball person, anyone understands that you don’t do that, intentionally put the leadoff man on base, with three, four, five coming up behind. It just makes no sense," Roberts said.
With Jurickson Profar dealing with objects thrown at him from the stands, the Padres bullpen dealing with the same, and the animosity between players, it’s safe to say there is bad blood between these two teams and fan bases heading into a crucial Game 3 on Tuesday night at Petco Park in San Diego.
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