Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts said it was “troubling” that a ball San Diego’s Manny Machado threw into the Dodgers’ dugout appeared intended for him during Sunday’s fiery NL Division Series game.
It was one of several incidents on Sunday that prompted Dodgers starter Jack Flaherty and Machado to exchange swear words as the Padres evened the series with a 10-2 victory in which San Diego hit six home runs. Two of those came from Fernando Tatis Jr, who was hit by a pitch from Flaherty, which also angered Machado. Flaherty also shouted at Machado after striking him out with two runners on sixth.
Roberts said he didn’t notice Machado’s throw in real time, but later saw a video of the incident. “It was disturbing. … And the ball was pointed at me with something behind it.”
Roberts said the ball didn’t hit him because of the net.
“That was very annoying. If it was directed at me, I would be very — it’s pretty disrespectful,” Roberts said as the teams prepared for Tuesday’s Game 3.
Third base umpire Tripp Gibson spoke to Machado about the incident, but Roberts said, “I don’t think they should have had an arm-wrestling conversation. When players can throw balls at opposing managers, you know.”
Fans at Dodger Stadium threw baseballs and trash onto the field, causing a 12-minute delay during the seventh inning of Sunday night’s game. The baseballs were apparently aimed at Padres left fielder Jurickson Profar. The tension arose when Profar robbed Mookie Betts of a home run in the first inning. As Betts walked the bases, Profar trolled the Dodgers fans by jumping up and down for several seconds, as if he had failed to secure the ball, before showing the crowd that he had caught it.
Flaherty said Sunday night that Machado “did some stuff between innings. He threw a ball into our dugout. There was no reason for that.”
Asked about Flaherty’s accusation, Machado said: “I throw balls into dugouts all the time. Both dugouts. They have bad balls, you throw the ball back in.”
Flaherty said he wished he had “kept it together a little better.”
Flaherty, who grew up in the Los Angeles area, was taken from Detroit on July 30.
“I’m not trying to be that player who goes back and forth with someone in the dugout,” Flaherty said. “I was done. Things have been said, it’s hard to hear. We have to do our best to get things done on the field.”
The Dodgers will start Walker Buehler, while the Padres will go with Michael King, who struck out 12 in his first playoff start in a 4-0 win in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series against Atlanta.
“It’s good to have a day off here soon, to reset and train. And there will be a lot of emotions tomorrow,” Roberts said.
Roberts grew up in north San Diego County, played two seasons for the Padres and later served on their coaching staff, including serving as interim manager for one game after Bud Black was fired in 2015.
“Part of that is trying to drown out the noise. It uses the other part of it as fuel. So I think collectively we are ready to go,” Roberts said.