For the second time in 3 days, the benches cleared during a game between the Oakland A’s and the Baltimore Orioles. During a 1-1 count in the bottom of the 8th inning, Manny Machado threw his bat toward third, but its trajectory was to the pitcher. This all leads back to the events that took place just 2 nights ago.
During the 3rd inning on Friday, Oakland A’s 3B Josh Henderson went for the easy out by tagging Machado, who was advancing on a ground ball. Machado lost his balance and threw his helmet down. He got up and got right into Henderson’s face, which in turn caused the benches to empty. Nothing real eventful came out of that really. But obviously Machado didn’t forget about it.
Fast forward to the bottom of the 8th inning on Sunday during a 10-0 game, Manny Machado snapped. After being brushed off the plate with a low inside fastball, Machado threw the bat to 3rd base on the next pitch. That’s when A’s catcher Stephen Yogt got into Machado’s face, then another A’s player got into his face and there was a little shoving match at home plate. Machado and A’s reliever Fernando Abad were ejected from the game as play resumed. In the end, the A’s won a rout 11-1.
This action by Machado was uncalled for, unprofessional, and immature. Okay, maybe he got caught up in the heat of the moment with his team down 10-0, but that is no reason for a batter to try and intentionally take a pitcher out with his bat. Machado is 21 years old, he should have grown up years ago and if he hasn’t, maybe today is the day for him to start. Expect a lengthy suspension from MLB, also expect for these teams to keep this altercation in the back of their heads when they meet again on July 10th. Until that time, Machado has some thinking to do in order to avoid incidents like this from happening in the future. Maybe by July 10th, Machado will keep his anger in complete and total control so he won’t have to worry about suspension.
