Here we are again with one of baseball’s most intense modern rivalries: Padres vs. Dodgers. The stakes are always high when these two square off, simply because there’s so much history involved. Remember last year’s dramatic NLDS clash? Things got heated and personal, especially between Dodgers manager Dave Roberts and Padres superstar Manny Machado. So, have the fireworks fizzled out since then? Well, Roberts has something to say about that.
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For the unversed, during Game 2 of the 2024 NLDS, tensions flared between the Padres and Dodgers when Machado casually tossed a baseball toward the Dodgers’ dugout. The ball bounced once and hit the protective netting just in front of Roberts, who was reviewing his lineup and didn’t immediately notice what had occurred.
Quite naturally, heated words were exchanged between the two camps, with Roberts describing the event as “unsettling” at the time. Now, a year later, when these two teams are facing each other again, is there still bad blood between Machado and Roberts? Well, not really!
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“What happened, happened. Now, we are focused on winning games and moving forward,” Roberts said in a sign of truce.
Ever since that tense 2024 NLDS game, the relationship of Roberts and Machado has been under the microscope. But, this is not the first time Roberts has waved the white flag and has tried to bury the hatchet.
Just ahead of a spring training game earlier this year, it appeared any lingering hard feelings between the two might have melted away. Roberts offered a heartfelt sentiment when asked about Machado, who briefly played under him during the Dodgers’ 2018 World Series run. “I love him like a son, and that’ll never change, but we’re both competitors,” the Dodgers manager said.
While Roberts and Machado might have been past that incident, the outcome of this rivalry continues to be the same. Last year, the Dodgers got the better of the Padres in that NLDS game, and this year again, they won the first game of the series by 8-7.
Dave Roberts again has the last laugh
Not only did the Dodgers beat the Padres in the series opener; we also got to see Machado’s antics, again!
The game was going without much drama, but Tanner Scott’s 10th-inning showdown with Machado produced all the fireworks. It was the turning point of the night, and perhaps fittingly so.
Incidentally, Machado was once the Dodgers’ prized trade acquisition before becoming the face of the Padres. Scott, meanwhile, took the opposite route, arriving to the Dodgers camp after a whirlwind of moves.
So, Machado, being Machado, got Scott this time, rather than Roberts!
It all began when Machado stepped to the plate to lead off the bottom of the 10th as the tying run. He battled Scott to a full count, then watched a backdoor slider sweep across the zone. But the plate umpire, Mike Estabrook, called it a strike, much to Machado’s surprise.
He quickly turned to confront Estabrook, with frustration boiling over. However, he stopped just on the verge of getting ejected. No more drama after that, and the Dodgers took the win home.
However, the fans got what they expected from this series. Raw emotion and the fire that continue to burn in one of baseball’s most intense rivalries.
Written by
Edited by
Abhishek Rajan