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‘Troubling’: Dodgers manager Dave Roberts questions Manny Machado’s throw
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‘Troubling’: Dodgers manager Dave Roberts questions Manny Machado’s throw

During Game 2 of the National League Division Series on Sunday night, San Diego Padres third baseman Manny Machado threw a mid-inning ball toward the Dodgers dugout that nearly hit manager Dave Roberts.

Roberts told reporters Monday that he did not notice the throw at the time, but later saw video of the incident and called it “disturbing.”

‘I don’t know his intention. I don’t want to speak for him,” Roberts said. “But I did see the video. And the ball was pointed at me with something behind it.”

The sequence occurred before the bottom of the sixth inning, after Dodgers starting pitcher Jack Flaherty struck out Machado and shouted expletives at the Padres star on his way back to the dugout.

Read more: Plaschke: Dodgers fans lose their cool and Dodgers lose their lead in a series-clinching debacle

According to people who witnessed the game, Machado’s throw came toward the Dodgers dugout as the Padres were warming up defensively for the bottom of the inning. Machado allegedly threw the ball with a zip tie and bounced it into the mesh wall protecting the dugout, near where Roberts was sitting.

Video of the incident obtained by the San Diego Union-Tribune showed Machado releasing the throw from the infield grass between second and third base. Roberts was looking at his lineup sheet as it landed in the net for him.

Although Machado admitted after Sunday’s game that he threw a ball at the Dodgers dugout, he interpreted it as a routine throw intended for a ball boy.

“I throw balls in the dugouts all the time, both dugouts,” Machado said. “I mean, they have foul balls, you know, you throw the ball back there.”

On Monday, Machado made this comment on the situation, according to the Union Tribune.

“I talked about this last night after the game,” he said. “I have already turned the page and I am 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 targeted him with the throw, “it was pretty disrespectful.”

Roberts previously managed Machado with the Dodgers in 2018 after the team acquired the slugger at the trade deadline. Machado then signed with the Padres as a free agent the following offseason.

“Obviously, I’ve been in a relationship with Manny for years,” Roberts said.

After Machado’s throw, he was approached by third base umpire Tripp Gibson. The two had a brief conversation, with Machado putting his arm around Gibson’s shoulder.

Did Roberts think Machado should have been kicked out of the game?

“I don’t think they should have had an arm-around-the-arms conversation,” Roberts responded, referring 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 inning, after Flaherty Fernando Tatis Jr. hit with a sinker to open the inning.

Flaherty said he didn’t knock Tatis down on purpose, noting it was only a two-run game at the time. Tatis, who homered and doubled against Flaherty earlier in the game, also didn’t seem to think it was intentional, saying after the game that it’s “too important a series to just throw to guys.”

Machado, however, saw things differently.

“He tried to hit our best hitter,” Machado said after the game.

‘Get him out. If you can’t get him out, don’t hit him. Right? They have the best player in the game, right? Ohtani? We’re not going out there and trying to hit Ohtani. We’re trying to get him out. Don’t go out and try to hit my husband.

After Tatis was hit, Machado walked 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 it clear that we weren’t going to hit him on purpose to start an inning down two runs.”

When Flaherty eliminated Machado a few moments later, he appeared to yell an expletive at Machado as he told him to sit down.

“I wish things didn’t get out of hand between me and him,” Flaherty said Monday after Roberts discussed the play during his off-season press conference.

“I wish I would have held it together a little better after, you know, an emotional game.”

Read more: Fans threw balls and beer cans at Padres players — and exchanged blows — at Dodger Stadium. No arrests

Instead, tempers only flared further when Machado threw the ball.

Broadcast cameras showed Flaherty yelling at Machado from the dugout shortly before the bottom of the sixth inning, which Flaherty later said in response to Machado’s pitch. Other Dodgers in the dugout also became animated, including Teoscar Hernández, who is seen in the video immediately pointing to Machado from the dugout steps near Roberts.

On Monday, the consensus among many Dodgers teammates was that Machado intentionally threw the ball hard, disputing his characterization that he simply intended to throw it to a bat boy.

“What if that ball goes over the dugout and hits someone?” shortstop Miguel Rojas asked rhetorically.

Major League Baseball has been in contact with Dodgers security personnel and has requested their video of the incident because the Fox broadcast did not include it, according to multiple people with knowledge of the situation who were not authorized to speak publicly .

The Athletic first reported that the Dodgers had sent video to the league.

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This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.