Orioles-Red Sox has had enough drama to rival a Shakespeare play. Last night, Boston fans directed racial slurs at O’s outfielder Adam Jones. Before that, the two sides squabbled because third baseman Manny Machado slid hard into second baseman Dustin Pedroia, causing an injury. Red Sox reliever Matt Barnes threw a fastball at Machado’s head two days later, earning him an immediate ejection and later a four-game suspension.
The drama continued on Tuesday night as the two clubs began the second game of a four-game series in Boston. The Fenway faithful gave Jones a standing ovation as he stepped to the plate for his first at-bat, and starter Chris Sale stepped off the mound to allow Jones the moment. Watch:
[mlbvideo id="1344640483" width="600" height="336" /]
The good will was immediately erased. After Sale struck out Jones, the lefty threw his first pitch to Machado behind his knees. Sale might have been retaliating not just for Machado’s slide into Pedroia, but because O’s starter Dylan Bundy hit Mookie Betts with a pitch on Monday. It didn’t appear to be intentional.
Despite this, home plate umpire D.J. Reyburn issued warnings to both teams. And despite the rest of the game going off without much drama, Machado was incensed about it after the game:
Manny Machado completely goes off on profanity-laden tirade, blasting #Redsox organization, saying he has no respect for anyone in it
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) May 3, 2017
Machado dropped at least 43 eff bombs. (Rough estimate) I never once blinked but that was epic
— Mike Giardi (@MikeGiardi) May 3, 2017
Manny Machado says something need to be done, infuriated that #Redsox ace Chris Sale threw behind them
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) May 3, 2017
Manny Machado on #Redsox: I lost all respect for that organization.""
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) May 3, 2017
Machado says MLB needs to do something about a pitcher throwing 100 MPHs at a batter's head. "I have a bat." Says he could go after pitcher
— Mike Giardi (@MikeGiardi) May 3, 2017
This is far from over, methinks. The clubs meet again tomorrow night at 7:10PM.