Manny Machado incited a bench-clearing standoff on Tuesday night, then evoked some extremely harsh words from the Milwaukee Brewers clubhouse.
“F––– that mother––––er,” said Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich, referring to the Dodgers shortstop in the aftermath of a 2-1 extra innings Los Angeles victory that tied the NLCS at two games apiece.
Machado angered his opponents in the 10th inning when he hit a weak ground ball then collided with the leg of Brewers first baseman Jesús Aguilar while running out the play. It caused both dugouts to clear and while no punches were thrown, the Brewers skewered Machado in post-game comments.
“He’s a player who has a history of those types of incidents,” said Yelich. “One time is an accident. Repeat it over and over and over again, you’re just a dirty player.
“It’s a dirty play by a dirty player.”
Machado’s actions come on the heels of two controversial slides into second base during during Monday’s Game 3, when he appeared to grab at Brewers infielders in attempts to break up double plays.
“I have a lot of respect for him as a player, but you can’t respect someone who plays the game like that,” Yelich said.
Brewers manager Craig Counsell offered his thoughts on Machado, saying, “I guess they got tangled up at first base. I don’t think he’s playing all that hard.”
Milwaukee infielder Travis Shaw was more emphatic.
“It’s a dirty play. You saw the replay,” Shaw told reporters. “He can say all he wants, he didn’t mean to do it. It’s pretty obvious he meant to do it. He’s shown it multiple times throughout his career. It’s a dirty play. A kick to [Aguilar’s] leg right there. It was not by mistake.”
Machado defended himself following the game.
“If that’s dirty, that’s dirty,” Machado said, according to MLB.com. “I don’t know, call it what you want. I play baseball. I try to go out there and win for my team. If that’s their comments, that’s their comments. I can’t do nothing about that.”
Machado, 26, is poised to become one of the most coveted free agents in history. He will be eligible to sign with any team shortly after the World Series, but the recent drama surrounding him will certainly not do him any favours.
He drew criticism during Game 2 of the NLCS for not running out a ground ball and when later asked about it by Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, Machado said, “Obviously I’m not going to change, I’m not the type of player that’s going to be ‘Johnny Hustle,’ and run down the line and slide to first base and … you know, whatever can happen. That’s just not my personality, that’s not my cup of tea. That’s not who I am.”
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