This was an interesting scene that developed in Baltimore yesterday. A’s reliever Fernando Abad brushed back Orioles slugger Manny Machado with an inside fastball in the eighth inning of a blowout game and Machado – who was clearly not pleased at being thrown at – flung his bat towards third base on the very next swing.
Machado tried to claim that the bat slipped by accident, but that’s either very convenient timing or a boldfaced lie. Considering the quality of the pitch Machado was swinging at (he had no chance to hit it) and the fact that benches already cleared over Machado’s frustration earlier in the series, I’m leaning strongly towards the latter.
It’s probably best for everyone’s safety that this series is over.
Update:Machado has been suspended five games as a result of the incident.
[FTW]
