Early in their NLDS, Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts accused Manny Machado of throwing a baseball “directed at me with something behind it.”
Apparently, it was all gamesmanship.
Roberts first discussed the incident Monday, about 24 hours after the San Diego Padres had smacked around the Dodgers in their own ballpark for a 10-2 win in Game 2 of the series.
The incident occurred during that game, and tempers had flared between Machado and Jack Flaherty during the game. Dodgers fans even threw debris at Jurickson Profar and Fernando Tatis Jr., causing a delay.
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Roberts, though, never made mention of Machado’s throw when the game ended. So, the manager was asked if his late reaction was all part of a plan.
“It was. It was,” Roberts admitted after the Dodgers beat San Diego in Game 5 to move on to the NLCS.
Roberts said it was a way to get the team to find something to rally around, rather than deal with more pressure.
“As a manager, you never want to make it about you. But I just felt in that situation, if we could take it off our guys a little bit,” Roberts said.
“Manny and I have a really good relationship. I would take him any day. But I don’t think that diversion was a bad thing for our guys. And they responded by having my back.”
Perhaps Roberts played the long game because San Diego did take a 2-1 series lead after winning Game 3. But the Dodgers won Game 4 on the road, 8-0, and then took the series by winning Game 5, 2-0. The Padres did not score a run in their final 24 innings.
Los Angeles will face the New York Mets in the National League Championship Series. The Dodgers host Game 1 Sunday night, with the first pitch at 8:15 p.m. ET.
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