Dodgers' Dave Roberts says Manny Machado attacked him with “care.”

By Fabian Ardaya, Andy McCullough and Ken Rosenthal

SAN DIEGO – Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Monday he believes San Diego Padres third baseman Manny Machado threw a baseball at him between innings of Game 2 of the NLDS, adding to the emotionally charged debacle at the San Diego's win added another level. The series was tied at 1-1.

Roberts, who said he noticed Machado's throw after watching the video, called the All-Star third baseman's actions “disturbing.”

“There was intent behind it,” Roberts said. “It didn’t almost hit me because there was a net. And that was very annoying. If it was directed at me, I would be very – it's pretty disrespectful.

“I don’t know his intention. I don't want to speak for him. But I saw the video. And the ball was pointed at me with something behind it.”

A person in the Dodgers dugout confirmed Monday that Machado's throw was toward the end of the dugout closest to home plate, where Roberts sits during games. The athlete watched video that showed Machado's throw hit the net in front of Roberts and flew toward home plate. In the video, referee Tripp Gibson approaches Machado a few moments later.

The Dodgers sent the video to Major League Baseball for review.

“We are aware of it,” said Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman The athlete. “We will reserve comment until this is resolved.”

Dave Roberts said he saw a video of Manny Machado throwing a ball into the Dodgers' dugout between innings and toward him. He called it “disturbing” and “disrespectful.”

— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) October 7, 2024

Machado, who played for Roberts and the Dodgers in 2018, said The athlete On Sunday night, he actually threw a baseball toward the Dodgers dugout. How hard he threw it was a matter of debate between the two sides.

“Did Flaherty throw the ball hard at the other guy?” Machado said The athletein reference to Dodgers starting pitcher Jack Flaherty, who hit Fernando Tatis Jr. with a pitch in the previous half-inning. “You can say whatever you want. I threw the ball the way I always throw it in any dugout.”

Flaherty, who had just been taken out of the game, was annoyed by the throw and engaged in a shouting match with Machado that had begun when Flaherty struck out Machado in the previous half-inning.

“I think that’s where things got out of control,” Flaherty said Monday. “After that happened and he throws the ball, I wish I had just let him run… That's not how you want things to go. You want to stay on the field and concentrate on the game. …things were said. It was hard to hear.”

Did Machado's throw cross a line?

“This is not normal,” Flaherty said. He said he had “no idea” whether he would talk to Machado before Game 3 on Tuesday in San Diego.

“It probably quickly got a little bumpier than expected,” Flaherty said of the series.

Flaherty, however, was hardly the only one in the Dodgers dugout upset by Machado's throw Sunday night.

“They don’t respect the opposing team,” infielder Miguel Rojas said. “There is no reason why you have to throw the ball into our dugout. If he wants to do something, there are other options. Throwing the ball into our dugout is pretty disrespectful. That's something you don't do if you consider yourself a veteran of the game and have been around for a long time.

“You don't see people throwing a bat or a ball into the dugout, anything like that when no one's watching. What if the ball flies across the dugout and hits someone in the face? That’s going to be a problem.”

Flaherty insisted that the seemingly inciting incident — Tatis Jr. hitting a home run in the first inning — with a pitch to lead off the sixth inning was unintentional. Roberts said when Machado stared at Flaherty immediately afterward, the manager looked at Machado and shook his head to show it wasn't intentional.

“As a baseball player, everyone understands that you don't do that and intentionally put the leader on base so that three, four, five line up behind him. It just doesn’t make sense,” Roberts said.

That was his only interaction with Machado on Sunday night before the throw, Roberts said.

From there, the evening unfolded, eventually requiring a delay after fans threw at least one baseball at Padres outfielder Jurickson Profar and threw trash on the field near Tatis in right field. Profar's troll job against Dodgers fans after stealing a home run in Game 1 set the tone for a Padres game and added tension to a tense evening.

“The team over there clearly likes the villain role and feeds off of it,” Roberts said. “Whatever drives us, the motivation, individually and collectively, is to win a baseball game, to win a series.”

(Photo by Manny Machado: Rothmuller/Getty Images))