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Manny Machado tried a hidden-ball trick against the Boston Red Sox, and unfortunately, it cost the San Diego Padres at least one run. Jarren Duran was on third base and had one out in the third inning. Machado had the ball as Alex Bregman was caught in a rundown on the previous play.
Wandy Peralta was on the rubber, and Machado tagged Duran near the bag. Duran then pointed to the mound, and third-base umpire Scott Barry called a balk, giving the Red Sox a 2-1 lead. Trevor Story was able to move from second to third.
After the game, manager Mike Shildt spoke about the play, and he put some blame on himself for the result.
“I thought it was a great baseball play. I'll take some responsibility,” Shildt said via the Associated Press. “We want to work on everything that can possibly happen in spring training. It's my miss that we didn't. You just can't be on the rubber when that happens. But Manny's IQ shows up again. Just something we didn't work on. He was on the rubber. But he had him.”
According to the rules, the pitcher can't be on the rubber for a hidden-ball trick to be legal. If a player tags a runner while the pitcher is standing on or straddling the rubber, then it's considered a balk.
Though Machado may have failed on the trick, the Padres were still able to walk away with a 5-4 win. With the win, the Padres moved to 65-52 and are still in second place in the NL West. They've played well at home, but they're still trying to figure things out when they go on the road.
If they want to be a threat to finish out this second half of the season, they'll need to play better when they're away, and that can go a long way into the postseason.
