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Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy isn't about to let the Padres get under his skin.
Speaking to the media before Game 3 of the Division Series matchup between the two teams, Muncy looked back on San Diego's emotional Game 2 win. Now that the series has shifted to Petco Park in San Diego, he expects the Padres to play off the emotions of the crowd.
“The atmosphere here plays off their emotion,” Muncy said. “And we've seen that for the last several years, even in regular season games. Just something as simple as a single and you see the guy throwing the bat 30 feet in the air, that really gets the crowd going here.”
This comes after the Padres' 10-2 win in Game 2, which included a brief delay as fans at Dodger Stadium threw baseballs and trash onto the field directed at San Diego players Jurickson Profar and Fernando Tatis Jr. Later, Padres third baseman Manny Machado was seen throwing a ball in the direction of the Dodgers' dugout. Dodgers players took exception to it, with manager Dave Roberts calling video of the throw “unsettling.”
“This is kind of part of their game,” Muncy continued. “Trying to get under your skin and trying to have the emotion come out and get you to do something that you're not normally doing. And just, for example, if you're a pitcher and you see a guy doing that, all of the sudden you want to throw harder and now you're missing balls right over the plate. And that's when their guys are doing their damage. It's easier said than done, obviously, but you can't let that happen.”
Manny Machado adds fuel to the growing Dodgers vs. Padres rivalry
While there isn't any real reason to think Machado was aiming for Roberts or anyone else in the Dodgers' dugout, the throw certainly got fans (and media, and managers) talking.
“I did see the video, and it was unsettling,” Roberts told reporters of the throw. “Obviously, I have a relationship with Manny from years past. There was intent behind it. It didn't almost hit me because there was a net. And that was very bothersome.”
That prompted Padres manager Mike Shildt to defend his star infielder.
Asked if he thought Machado was aiming at anyone, Shildt said “No,” then reminded fans that “Manny has an exceptional arm,” meaning that if Machado wanted to hit someone, he would have.
That wasn't the only incident involving Machado in Game 2. He also got into an argument with Dodgers starter Jack Flaherty during the game.
“It's a competition. I mean he wants to win, I want to win,” Machado said of the exchange. “I'm doing it for my team, he's doing it for his organization, and it's a competition that once you put on that uniform, you step in between those lines. It's a battle, man. There's a lot of emotions going through the game obviously with this crowd and in his hometown. We're just trying to go out there and compete every single time and the emotions don't run run run run through the postseason and that's what the what the beauty of this is.”
