After the Dodgers threw the first punch in Game 1, San Diego returned with a lethal left cross in Game 2.
The Padres evened up the best-of-five series 1-1 after defeating the Dodgers 10-2 in LA on Sunday night. San Diego clubbed six homers in the game, including two from mercurial Fernando Tatis Jr. While the result was massive for the Padres, the theatrics during the contest make this arguably the best budding rivalry in the sport.
These two teams clearly don’t like one another. There’s a preexisting crossover from a personnel standpoint. Yu Darvish and Manny Machado had brief spells in LA, and neither were overly successful. David Peralta played for the Dodgers last year before heading south to San Diego. Dave Roberts — a native of San Diego — managed the Padres for years before taking over the post up north at Dodger Stadium.
Last night, Peralta hit a key 2-run HR in the second inning (with two outs). Darvish tossed a brilliant seven innings allowing only one run. Roberts called the loss after the game “ugly”. And Machado was…being Machado.
Machado is a lightning rod — and has been his entire career. A player with immense natural talent, there have been times where his attitude has led to some controversy on the field. In this case, Machado got into an animated back-and-forth argument with Dodgers starter Jack Flaherty. Flaherty was on the top step of the dugout shouting at Machado, who appeared to motion for Flaherty to meet him in the parking lot after the game.
According to Flaherty, the Dodgers were not too happy when Machado threw a baseball toward their dugout. Machado wasn’t too happy when Flaherty hit Tatis Jr. with a fastball on the hip at the beginning of the sixth inning. This came after Tatis Jr. hit a HR in the first inning. Of course, with the Dodgers being down two runs at that point in the game, there was little reason for Flaherty to intentionally hit Tatis Jr.
The inning prior, Flaherty struck out Machado to end the inning, which then resulted in Flaherty telling Machado to “sit down” with multiple swear words thrown in for good measure.
However, the ugliness was ratcheted up even further in the bottom of the 7th inning. A ball was thrown from the outfield towards LF Jurickson Profar. Rightfully upset, Profar ran towards the umpires to tell them what had happened. Padres Manager Mike Shildt ran onto the field, the entire Padres team huddled on the field, and things got very testy. In right field, fans were throwing trash at Tatis Jr. According to one report, Profar — who like most outfielders — threw a ball into the stands after warming up to begin the inning. Much like those who catch a HR hit by the opposing team, the fan allegedly threw the ball back onto the field. Profar clearly thought it was aimed at him, and the chaos ensued.
Amidst the hoopla, the Padres went back into their dugout where Machado was seen giving the team an impassioned speech — presumably now giving San Diego the ‘us against the world’ mentality in this series. Heading into the series, the narrative was that San Diego had been billed as the favorite. This worked in the Dodgers’ favor, and the disrespect toward the team with the best regular season record was real.
Suddenly, thanks to a bonehead fan, all of that appears to be out the window. San Diego didn’t need extra motivation, but boy did they receive it here.
Game 3 on Tuesday figures to be must-see TV. San Diego’s coming off a brilliant game where they mashed the baseball, pitched very well, and fielded exceptionally well (Profar’s catch in LF was an all-time moment in robbing Mookie Betts of a homer).
Speaking of which, Betts is hitless in his last 22 postseason at-bats. If he doesn’t get going quickly, coupled with Freddie Freeman’s availability a question mark moving forward, this series could get out of hand quickly for the boys in blue.
