Watch Rick Porcello plunk Manny Machado, exchange words with Orioles slugger
Hitting Machado broke up Porcello's perfect game.
Rick Porcello made quick work of the Baltimore Orioles last night at Camden Yards, throwing a complete game on just 89 pitches, with his entire repertoire of pitches looking effective.
One of the few pitches Porcello lost control of was a cut-fastball to Manny Machado with two outs in the fourth inning. Porcello had set down each of the 11 batters he had faced to that point.
“It’s September baseball,” Porcello said, while denying the tagging was intentional. Given some of Machado’s previous outbursts, and antics, it’s easy to believe he wouldn’t try to aggravate a player who takes great exception to being hit.
“Obviously emotions are running high. Nobody wants to get hit by a pitch, that’s why I completely understand” he said. “At the same time, there’s absolutely no reason why I would hit him right there, especially with Mark Trumbo standing on deck. I mean, he’s hitting missiles all over the ballpark off me, so I don’t want to face him in a 2-0 game. Especially when I got a perfect game going.”
Trumbo collected one of his 43 home runs against Porcello earlier this year, at Fenway, and knocked Machado in from first base with an RBI double just after the scuffle ended. Machado downplayed the incident as the heat of the moment.
“We were just walking to first base, just talking,” he said. “Talking like human beings. Nothing much was said. We all know he doesn’t want to hit me there in that situation,” he went on. “I know who we’ve got behind me, I’m not dumb.”
Machado isn’t the only one who’s temper runs hot though, as Porcello’s emotions have flared this season before too.
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