Manny Machado shouted and cursed at Fernando Tatis Jr during a dugout tirade in the San Diego Padres’ crucial loss to the St Louis Cardinals on Saturday, telling the young star “it’s not about you” and “you go play baseball” after Tatis struck out looking.
Tatis reacted angrily to the call by plate umpire Phil Cuzzi, and manager Jayce Tingler was ejected when he came out of the dugout to argue.
The 29-year-old Machado and 22-year-old Tatis, who were both All-Stars this season, were separated by teammates during the incident, which came at the end of the top of the fifth. They eventually made their way to their positions Machado at third, Tatis at short.
“It’s not viewed negatively,” Tingler said. “We’re a family. We’re not going to discuss the details, but we care. There’s passion. There’s frustration. Those are all emotions that are natural, and those things happen.”
Tyler O’Neill, who hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the eighth inning as the Cardinals came back to beat the Padres 3-2, also had some words for Cuzzi after striking out looking in the fourth and sixth innings.
“Some pitches were off the plate,” O’Neill said. “I think the biggest thing for me was staying locked in and not giving it away. It was the biggest at bat of the night there in the eighth inning so I had to hunker down and stay locked in.”
Saturday’s result meant the Cardinals pulled two games ahead of Cincinnati for the second and final NL wild card, with San Diego and Philadelphia 2.5 games behind.
“We’re frustrated, upset, and laying it all out there,” Tingler said. “To come up a run short, we’re all playing for the same thing. It’s baseball. These things happen, and it can quickly turn. We need it to turn quick.”