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Who was right, wrong during Red Sox-Orioles feud?

Evan Habeeb / USA TODAY Sports

Bad blood and unwritten rules dominated the Boston Red Sox-Baltimore Orioles series over the weekend, as what began Friday with a spike ended Sunday with an errant pitch.

That spike came on a controversial slide by Orioles' star third baseman Manny Machado in the eighth inning of the series opener.

Following a leadoff single, Machado broke for second on a ground ball off the bat of Mark Trumbo. When Machado slid into the bag, his foot came up and spiked Dustin Pedroia in the back of the knee, forcing the Red Sox infielder from the game.

Pedroia and Machado both tried to downplay the incident afterward, but with the Red Sox missing their All-Star second baseman due to the injury suffered on the play, it was clear some sort of retaliation was coming. On Sunday, it did. Red Sox reliever Matt Barnes threw behind the head of Machado in the eighth inning, leading to an ejection for the hard-throwing right-hander.

With the series over and the dust settled, here's a look at who was right, and who was wrong:

Right

Manny Machado. Machado's slide was bad, whether intentional or not. He went through the base with his lead foot up around Pedroia's knee. But immediately after spiking Pedroia, Machado appeared genuinely upset and repeatedly said after the game that the contact was unintentional. No stranger to heated confrontations, Machado, to his credit, knew that some sort of retribution was coming in the series. Once he was thrown at by Barnes, Machado calmly took off his equipment and made his way to first base. No gestures, and no talking back. Machado only appeared upset that the pitch was toward his head, which is completely understandable.

Dustin Pedroia. Likely annoyed to be stuck in the middle of controversy, Pedroia appeared agitated while sitting in the dugout after Machado was thrown at. Sidelined for Saturday and Sunday as a result of the injury, Pedroia took the high road when discussing what happened, and was also seen speaking with Machado across the field after Barnes threw at him. "I'm sorry to him and his team," Pedroia said afterward. "If you're going to protect guys, you do it right away. He knows that. We both know that. It's definitely a mishandled situation. There was zero intention of him trying to hurt me. He just made a bad slide. He did hurt me. It's baseball, man. I'm not mad at him. I love Manny Machado." This doesn't appear to be Pedroia throwing Barnes under the bus, either, but instead, him being upset that a hard play turned into so many extracurriculars.

Wrong

Eduardo Rodriguez. Normally, Machado would have been thrown at Saturday (Pedroia told Machado that if it were him, that's when he would have retaliated), but with knuckleballer Steven Wright on the mound, it's understandable why the Red Sox didn't do so. When Sunday rolled around, Rodriguez had his opportunity for revenge, but missed several times during a four-pitch walk in the sixth. When you're throwing at someone intentionally, you get one shot. You miss, and that's your fault. While Rodriguez's control was nowhere near crisp on the day - he walked five batters - he did throw three pitches inside intentionally on Machado and failed to hit him. That should have ended it. Back when Alex Rodriguez returned from his suspension, Ryan Dempster threw at him repeatedly until finally hitting him, which is what irked the Yankees the most. You get your shot, you miss, and you move on.

Matt Barnes. This was a tough spot for Barnes to be in. Pedroia is the leader on the Red Sox, and in the final game of the series - while leading 6-0 in the eighth inning - it fell on Barnes' shoulders. It was likely the last time Machado would step to the plate in the series, and the club clearly wanted some sort of retribution - even though Pedroia didn't. Red Sox catcher Christian Vazquez set up way outside on the right-handed hitter, but Barnes came in on Machado with a 90-mph pitch that went behind his head and actually hit his bat. While there's no doubt that Barnes didn't mean to throw at Machado's head, that's the risk when you intentionally throw at someone. For his part, Barnes apologized after the game, and understood why the Orioles were upset. "That's a line you don't cross," Barnes told the Providence Journal. "I'm sorry that it kind of ended up that height, and fortunately it didn't hit him." Barnes was wrong to let that pitch get away, and he'll likely serve a suspension for it.

Zach Britton. A bystander in the series due to a trip to the disabled list, Britton had some choice words for the Red Sox after Sunday's game. "Dustin, him telling Manny, 'Hey, that didn’t come from me' may be even more frustrating,” Britton told BaltimoreBaseball.com. "Because he's the leader of that clubhouse and if he can't control his own teammates, then there's a bigger issue over there." There's no issue with Britton voicing his opinion, but the Orioles aren't exactly a team that should be throwing stones, either. Machado has a reputation for being a hot head, Chris Davis was suspended less than three years ago for amphetamines, and the Orioles have their own history of throwing at people - just ask Jose Bautista - so calling out another clubhouse when yours has dealt with its own recent issues isn't a good look.

(Photos courtesy: Action Images)

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