During Game 2 of the National League Division Series on Sunday night, San Diego Padres third baseman Manny Machado threw a ball toward the Dodgers dugout between innings that almost hit manager Dave Roberts.
Roberts told reporters Monday he didn’t notice the throw at the time but later saw a video of the incident, calling it “unsettling.”
“I don’t know his intent. I don’t want to speak for him,” Roberts said. “But I did see the video. And the ball was directed at me with something behind it.”
The sequence took place before the bottom of the sixth inning, after Dodgers starting pitcher Jack Flaherty struck out Machado the half-inning before and shouted expletives toward the Padres star on his way back to the dugout.
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According to people who witnessed the play, Machado’s throw toward the Dodgers dugout came as the Padres were warming up defensively for the bottom half of the inning. Machado allegedly threw the ball with some zip, one-hopping it into the wall of netting protecting the dugout, near where Roberts was sitting.
A video of the incident obtained by the San Diego Union-Tribune showed that Machado released the throw from the infield grass between second and third base. Roberts was looking down at his lineup sheet when it crashed into the netting in front of him.
Although Machado admitted after Sunday’s game he did throw a ball toward the Dodgers dugout, he framed it as a routine toss intended for a ball boy.
“I throw balls all the time into the dugouts, both dugouts,” Machado said. “I mean they have foul balls, you know, you throw the ball back in there.”
On Monday, Machado gave this comment about the situation, according to the San Diego Union Tribune.
“I spoke about this last night after the game,” he said. “I’ve already turned the page, and I’m just looking forward to playing in front of our fans tomorrow and preparing for another tough battle against a very good team.”
Roberts said if Machado had been intentionally targeting him with the throw, “it’s pretty disrespectful.”
Roberts previously managed Machado with the Dodgers in 2018, after the team acquired him at the trade deadline. Machado then signed with the Padres the following offseason as a free agent.
“Obviously, I have a relationship with Manny from years past,” Roberts said.
After Machado’s throw, he was approached by third base umpire Tripp Gibson. The two had a brief conversation, during which Machado threw his arm around Gibson’s shoulder.
Did Roberts feel Machado should have been ejected from the game?
“I don’t think they should have had a little arm-around-each-other conversation,” Roberts answered, alluding to Machado’s interaction with Gibson. “If players can throw balls at opposing managers, you know …”
The confrontation with Machado initially started in the top of the sixth, after Flaherty hit Fernando Tatis Jr. with a sinker to lead off the inning.
Flaherty said he didn’t plunk Tatis on purpose, noting that it was only a two-run game at that point. Tatis, who homered and doubled off Flaherty earlier in the game, didn’t seem to think it was intentional, either, saying postgame it is “too much of an important series just to be throwing at guys.”
Machado, however, saw things differently.
“He tried to hit our best hitter,” Machado said postgame. “Get him out. If you can’t get him out, don’t hit him. Right? They got the best player in the game, right? Ohtani? We don’t go out there and try to hit Ohtani. We try to get him out. Don’t go out there and try to hit my guy.”
After Tatis got hit, Machado walked out to the on-deck circle and began “chirping” at Flaherty, according to Roberts. At that point, Roberts said he “looked at [Machado] and shook my head, making a point that we wouldn’t hit him on purpose to lead off an inning being down two runs.”
When Flaherty struck Machado out a few moments later, he appeared to shout an expletive at Machado while telling him to sit down.
“I just wish things didn’t get out of hand between me and him,” Flaherty said Monday, after Roberts discussed the play in his off-day news conference. “I just wish I would have held it together a little bit better after, you know, an emotion-filled game.”
Instead, tempers only flared further once Machado threw the ball.
Broadcast cameras showed Flaherty yelling at Machado from the dugout shortly before the bottom of the sixth began, which Flaherty later said was in response to Machado’s throw. Other Dodgers players in the dugout also grew animated, including Teoscar Hernández, who is seen in the video immediately pointing at Machado from the dugout steps near Roberts.
On Monday, the consensus among many Dodgers team members was that Machado intentionally threw the ball hard, disputing his characterization that he simply intended to toss it to a bat boy.
“How about if that ball went over the dugout and hit someone?” shortstop Miguel Rojas asked rhetorically.
Major League Baseball has been in touch with the Dodgers’ security staff and requested their video of the incident, since the Fox broadcast did not capture it, according to multiple people with knowledge of the situation who weren’t authorized to speak publicly. The Athletic first reported the Dodgers sent video to the league.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.