Dave Roberts questions Manny Machado's throw into the Dodgers dugout

SAN DIEGO – The baseball that San Diego Padres third baseman Manny Machado threw toward the Dodgers' dugout Sunday night – sparking another heated back-and-forth between him and Los Angeles pitcher Jack Flaherty – landed in near Dodgers manager Dave Roberts.

Roberts said before his team's practice Monday that he didn't notice it at first but later watched an internal video of the throw.

“It was disturbing,” Roberts said. “Obviously I’ve had a relationship with Manny for years. There was intention behind it. It didn't come close to hitting me because there was a net. And that was very annoying. If it had been aimed at me, I would have been very – It's pretty disrespectful. I don’t want to speak for him, but I don’t know what led to it.”

Major League Baseball has contacted Dodgers security and requested footage of the incident, sources told ESPN, although punishment appears unlikely. A video showing the incident in question was posted to social media by the San Diego Union Tribune on Monday evening.

After Game 2 on Sunday – a 10-2 Padres victory that evened the National League Division Series at one game apiece – Machado accused Flaherty of intentionally hitting San Diego's Fernando Tatis Jr. early in the sixth inning. which Flaherty vehemently denied. Two batters later, Flaherty struck out Machado and then yelled in his direction, telling him to “sit down.”

Machado didn't seem bothered by Flaherty's reaction, but rather attributed it to “competition.” But the two exchanged words as Machado came back onto the field on defense at the end of the sixth period and appeared to challenge each other to a postgame fight. Flaherty later admitted that he was angry that Machado threw a baseball into the Dodgers' dugout.

Machado initially denied the accusation, saying he constantly threw baseballs into the dugout after pre-inning warmups. But people at the Dodgers who either saw the throw or watched a video feed of it say it was thrown firmly and bounced before hitting the net, which is right in front of where Roberts was during the Games sits at the home plate end of the dugout. Machado downplayed the throw Sunday night but also seemed to hint at his intentions when asked if it was normal for him to throw unnecessary balls into an opposing team's dugout.

“Both dugouts,” Machado said. “They have foul balls, you throw the ball back there. I mean, trying to hit our best hitter. Correct? Get him out. If you can't get him out, don't hit him. Correct? You.” We don't have the best player in the game, do we? (Shohei) Ohtani? We're not trying to get him out.

“Obviously I've had a relationship with Manny for years but I saw the video and the ball was on me but I don't know what led to that.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts

Before signing the first of two long-term deals with the Padres, Machado played for the Dodgers during the 2018 season, coming from the Baltimore Orioles to replace the injured Corey Seager at shortstop. The Dodgers did not sign Machado when he became a free agent the following offseason.

Asked if he had any dialogue with Machado before throwing a baseball his way, Roberts said: “The only dialogue I had was him tweeting at Jack. And I looked at him and shook my head to make it clear that we didn't “I didn't intentionally hit him to take the lead one inning with a two-run deficit.”

“I think he uses it as fuel,” Roberts added. “As a baseball player, everyone understands that you don't do that by intentionally putting the leader on base while there's 3-4-5 behind him. It just doesn’t make sense.”

Flaherty struck an apologetic tone Monday, admitting that “things got out of control” between him and Machado, adding, “I wish I had just let it go.”

Machado reached out to reporters before Roberts' comments and was not made available afterward. Through a third party, Machado told the San Diego Union Tribune: “I talked about it last night after the game. I've already turned the page and I'm just looking forward to playing in front of our fans tomorrow and getting ready for another tough battle against a very good team.”