SAN DIEGO -- Padres All-Stars Manny Machado Jr. and Fernando Tatis Jr. stood beside each other and said that it was all okay after their weekend shouting match at the dugout in a season that had spiraled out of control.
During Saturday's face-to-face encounter at the St. Louis Cardinals, Machado cursed and shouted at Tatis. Before taking their defensive positions on to the field, Machado (29 years old) and Tatis (22) were separated by their teammates.
After Tatis took a look at the umpire Phil Cuzzi, there was a fracas. Jayce Tingler, Padres manager, was expelled after he tried to argue Tatis' case.
Machado was heard saying "It's about you," while Adam Frazier, a Padres coach, and Tatis were escorted away by Tatis.
The Padres lost a 2-0 lead to the Padres in Saturday's 3-2 defeat and went 2-8 in the three-game series. This severely damaged their chances of making it back to the postseason.
Machado called Tatis his "little brother" before Tuesday's home match against the National League West-leading San Francisco Giants. He also said that "we're always going be together no matter what." We have many years together and we are moving forward. It's over. He has to go. As a team, we have to get there together. This is what we will try to achieve in the next 13-days.
On Sept. 9, the Padres held a one-game advantage over their opponents for the second wild card spot. The Padres were then swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers in three games, split a four game series in San Francisco and lost three straight in St. Louis, before losing 6-5 to the Giants Tuesday night.
San Diego now sits five games behind St. Louis in the second wildcard race, with the Philadelphia Phillies a quarter-game ahead of St. Louis and the Padres one game ahead.
Tatis answered a question about Saturday's events and said that it was part of baseball. He also stated that it happened because good players want to win, even when things aren't going our way. It was a good thing that it happened. It makes us feel stronger when we go inward and discuss it. You can then analyze it and it becomes a part of you.
Machado has a 10-year contract worth $300 million and did most of the talking after batting practice. Tatis, who is a 14-year, $340m contract holder, covered his face with his glove as if he was laughing, after Machado continued to insist that the Padres only needed to win baseball games.
Machado spoke out about the incident and said that it was unfortunate that it took place in the dugout, which is a critical situation for the team. We have to also apologize to the fans that they were able to see it. It was handled internally by the team."
Since the trade deadline, the Padres have been struggling since then. They failed to add any starting pitching. They designated Jake Arrieta, right-hander, for assignment on Tuesday after their rotation was hit by injuries. After being signed by San Diego, Arrieta, 35 went 0-3 in four starts with a 10.95 ERA. After only one out, he left Sunday's St. Louis start with a groin injury. In a similar move, the Padres removed reliever Javy Guerra (from the 60-day list) in a matching move.
Their offense has also been missing during seemingly uninspired stretches. This makes them look very different from the fun-loving team they were earlier in the season.
"We are the leaders of this team and organization so we feel the pressure to win. We have Fernando, who is about to win the MVP. We've got a team trying to compete in the World Series. Our baseball has been poor so emotions can get the best of us. Machado also hit two home runs in Tuesday's loss. "Those are the situations we learn as leaders as a team and as an organization. And we just keep getting better."
Machado stated that they would put the scrap from the dugout to rest.
He said, "We're here for the team to remove all distractions." We have bigger fish to fry. There are bigger issues to worry about than worrying about something small. We are going to play baseball. We've got 13 more games left. To get to the top, we have to win them all.
The Padres broke a 13-year-old playoff drought in the 2020 pandemic-shortened season. They beat the Cardinals in a wild-card round before being swept by the eventual World Series champion Dodgers in the division series.
Tatis is the NL MVP candidate. However, he has had a mixed season. He was even moved from shortstop to the outfield because of recurring left shoulder injuries. Tatis has been returning to shortstop after Jake Cronenworth, an All-Star, broke a finger. However, Tatis was back in the center field on Sunday when he made a terrible error that resulted in a five-run second inning and a St. Louis win of 8-7.
This report was contributed by The Associated Press.
