The Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres rivalry reached another pressure point on Thursday evening as both benches cleared in the ninth inning after Fernando Tatis Jr. was hit by rookie right-hander Jack Little, who was making his MLB debut.
After the quarrel and the Padres taking the last of the four-game series, former Dodgers third baseman Manny Machado spoke on what he believed to be manager Dave Roberts making contact with Padres manager Mike Shildt.
More news: Padres’ Fernando Tatis Calls Out Dodgers Fans, Says He Doesn’t Like Playing at Dodger Stadium
“I definitely saw that contact,” Machado said. “I think (Roberts) wanted some smoke. Shildty said, ‘What’s up, let’s go. Where you at?’ I guess (Roberts) stayed on the other side. I guess you just kind of want that smoke with just fans watching (and) your team behind you, not solo. So, yeah, I mean, we’re still waiting.”
Machado brought up valid points regarding the unfortunate number of times that Tatis has been hit by Dodgers pitchers in recent years, but also made a threatening statement to the team while defending his teammate.
“I mean it’s, I don’t know, eight, nine, 10 in a row already, last three or four years,” Manny Machado said. “Let’s just hope his CT scan comes back negative. They got to pray it comes back negative tomorrow. You know? Just pray. … They need to set a little candle up for Tati tomorrow and hope that everything comes back negative. That’s not a good spot to get hit. I don’t care who it is. I don’t care who’s on the mound. It was five now in a year. That’s just unacceptable.”
The scans came back negative and Tatis was back in the lineup on Friday night.
After taking five of seven games against San Diego in this tumultuous 11-day stretch, the Dodgers find themselves once again atop the NL West.
More news: Padres’ Manny Machado Calls Out Dodgers After Fernando Tatis HBP, Says LA Better ‘Pray’ He’s Okay
Photo Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
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