Matt Barnes Headhunts Manny Machado For "Dirty Slide", And The Orioles Take 2/3 From Boston
Well we knew this was coming. After the incident on Friday night, we knew Manny was going to take one. Didn’t think it would be in game 2 on Saturday, because Steven Wright and his 77 mph knuckleball wasn’t going to do much damage. Turns out Wright couldn’t even stay in the game long enough to hit Manny. Fast forward to Sunday, Eduardo Rodriguez was dealing, he gave up one hit over six innings, struck out seven, and walked five. He also nearly took out Manny’s knees on three consecutive pitches in the sixth, but those didn’t look too intentional, he did have shaky command. Whatever, I could live with those.
Kevin Gausman did his best Big Cat impression and pissed all over himself, again. He started the game with back-to-back singles to Xander Bogaerts and Andrew Benintendi, bringing up Mookie Betts. Betts did his best 2016 “Mookie In Camden Yards” impression and deposited one into the left field seats. Next batter, Hanley Ramirez, same result. Solo shot and the Orioles were down 4-0 before an out was recorded. You could just tell it was going to be one of those days.
Game was pretty calm and quiet until Manny stepped into the box in the eighth with a guy on first and one out. Catcher sets up wayyyy outside, Matt Barnes chucks it behind Manny’s head, and luckily hits off his bat. I knew right away it hit the bat, but the ump signaled Manny to first. Manny stares into the dugout. Props to Manny for not knocking Barnes’ block off, like he did Yordano Venturna last season. For everyone who still thinks Machado is a young punk, he showed restraint by not charging the mound and just walking to first. IDK how many people can have 90 buzz behind their ear and not want to murder someone. We just saw a grown man try and make another man eat his meals out of a straw for the rest of his life because he his foot hit his teammates leg.
<——Please explain to me how this pitch was supposed to be on the inside half of the plate?
Yeah right Pete, “no intent”. GTFOH. Matt Barnes and John Farrell both said after the game that the pitch got away, and it was supposed to be an inside pitch. Hey you morons, why was the catcher set up outside? Be a god damn man, say “yeah I tried to hit him in the head, it was a bad decision”, don’t be a fucking coward and lie. The fact that Manny almost took one into the head because of a “dirty, late slide” that Dustin Pedroia didn’t say was dirty, is a god damn joke. Boston fans saying the Orioles and their fans are crying and whining about this would be singing a different tune if this was Dustin or Mookie Betts taking one behind the head. But no, the Red Sox are everything that is right with baseball. Fucking joke. Luckily Manny wasn’t on the ground with blood coming from his ears. Farrell and Matt Barnes are both clowns, just lying through their teeth about the whole thing.
I get it, Manny was going to get hit because of the “unwritten rules” that were put in place before our grandfathers were born. It’s stupid, but whatever. If you’re gonna hit someone, do it in the butt, or back, or ribs. You don’t go at a guys head. IDK if Barnes will be suspended, but I’m sure a fine is coming, and I’m sure Pedroia got in his ass about it. You could tell from the back-and-forth that Pedroia and Manny had, that this wasn’t an okay thing from Dustin’s POV. Like Dustin said, the Sox should have dealt with it the day after. Hit Manny on Saturday, let him take his base, and it’s over. Instead, it seems Barnes, or someone not directly involved in the incident decided to take matters into their own hands. Dustin is the captain of that team and the soul of the clubhouse, he needs to get some of those guys under control, because it seems like they got some stuff going on that the captain doesn’t know about.
Pedroia was great after the game too, he seems to be the only person with a B on their hat that is thinking rationally about this. He is the one who is hurt, but understands that what went on from the Boston dugout was bullshit. He knows how bad this looks for Boston and Matt Barnes. Hopefully this is the end of it all, because these teams meet 14 more times this season. This has only gone on this long because John Farrell is an idiot. He could have squashed this whole thing, but nope, he’s gonna keep lying to the media and say that “the ball got away from Barnes” and it was unintentional. Again, just a shitty look for John Farrell. Punk ass move by Matt Barnes, and punk ass comments from him and his classless manager.
Like I said before, I hope it’s over with, because these guys just want to play baseball, not worry about if they are gonna get their head knocked off if they slide the wrong way. But oh well, Jared said Matt Barnes “drinks for free”, but not because of where the pitch it, because of how he stood up for his teammate, who didn’t want to be stood up for. Sounds about right. I also tried to tell Jared that Manny texted Dustin to apologize after he accused Manny of not apologizing, but guess he didn’t get the message, much like Matt Barnes.
O’s dropped the game, 6-2, but took the series and are now 12-5 as the Rays come to town. At least we know the Rays won’t play any of these bullshit games that Boston tries to play, and we can just watch the Orioles kick their ass, not try and throw a ball through someones helmet.
PS. How god damn dumb can you be? Is Pete Abraham actually this stupid?
“No, officer. I only shot bullet by his head. It didn’t hit him, why am I arrested?”- Pete Abraham