Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr. get into heated exchange

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Frustrations boiled over between the San Diego Padres' two superstars on Saturday night.

Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado had to be separated after getting into a heated verbal exchange in the dugout during a 3-2 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium.

In a video that captured the confrontation, Machado could be heard shouting "you go play baseball" and "it's not f***ing about you" at Tatis Jr.

Warning: The video below contains NSFW language

It's unclear what exactly sparked the incident, though it did occur after Tatis Jr. struck out looking and then disputed the call from home plate umpire Phil Cuzzi in the top of the fifth inning. Padres manager Jayce Tingler left the dugout to also argue the strikeout call and was subsequently ejected.

After the game, Machado and Tatis Jr. were not made available to the media.

"I'm sure people on the outside think it's whatever they think, but we're family," Tingler told reporters postgame (h/t The Athletic). "We’re not gonna discuss the details, but we care. There’s passion, there’s frustration. Those are all emotions that are natural, and those things happen. But it comes down to a group of men caring.

"I think any time stakes are high and everybody knows what’s at stake, anything can happen. We can have disagreements, but we still love each other, we play for each other, we care about one another. And so when you have strong emotions on both sides, things happen."

The Machado-Tatis Jr. altercation preceded a crushing loss against a team the Padres are trailing in the playoff race. Padres reliever Emilio Pagán blew a 2-0 lead in the eighth inning, serving up a go-ahead, two-run shot to Tyler O'Neill.

San Diego, who was 66-49 on Aug. 10, is now 76-72 and in serious danger of missing the postseason.

They are 2.5 games behind the Cards for the second and final NL wild card spot with 14 games to play. And their remaining schedule is daunting: one more game against the Cardinals on Sunday, four against the Atlanta Braves (one of which is the continuation of a suspended game), three against the Los Angeles Dodgers and six against the San Francisco Giants.

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