parents star Manny Machado was called on Tuesday after a shot clock violation resulted in a third strike in his first at bat against the diamonds.
The third baseman was furious with the decision from plate umpire Ron Kulpa, who proceeded to eject him from the game after a frustrated Machado could be seen discussing the decision.
Padres manager Bob Melvin came out to plead his case along with Machado, but after a lengthy and lively conversation, Kulpa also sent Melvin packing with an early ejection.
On the play that resulted in the shot clock violation, Machado could be seen hitting his cleats with his bat and readjusting his batting gloves while standing in the box. Zac Gallen was clearly ready to shoot, but the 30-year-old kept playing for his team. Kulpa proceeded to call timeout and call the automatic strike, which ended both Machado’s at-bat and the Padres’ mid-inning.
Machado is the latest player to fall victim to MLB’s new shot clock rules, and it ended up being pretty costly for the six-time All-Star.
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Manny Machado struck out due to a shot clock violation and was subsequently ejected for arguing the call. pic.twitter.com/8nunHfDY2j
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Machado is the latest player to fall victim to MLB’s new shot clock rules, and it ended up being pretty costly for the six-time All-Star.
San Diego’s star infielder discussed the new rules before the season and admitted that “could be down 0-1 a lot” due to the increased pace that comes with the rule change.
Despite his preseason prediction, Machado couldn’t contain his frustration after being called out due to the new rules, and gave Kulpa a beating before heading out to the locker room.