Manny Machado wasn't in the good graces of the Milwaukee Brewers during Game 3 of the National League Championship Series on Monday following two questionable slides into second base.
The first dicey slide came during the second inning. With Machado on first, Cody Bellinger hit a ball towards second baseman Travis Shaw, who threw to second for a potential double play. With Brewers shortstop Orlando Arcia off balance in front of the bag, Machado attempted to slide through the infielder, who held on to the ball and maneuvered around his opponent.
While the Brewers took issue with the play, they didn't challenge the call.
In the fourth inning, a nearly identical play occurred when Bellinger smacked a ground ball to Brewers first baseman Jesus Aguilar with Machado running from first.
This time, however, Machado clearly violated Major League Baseball's slide rule, which resulted in a double play after replay review showed he made no effort to slide at the base, and that he grabbed Arcia's leg during the play.
"(Umpire Jim Wolf) said Orlando (Arcia) didn't try to make a throw on that (first) play, and that is a factor in whether they will consider an illegal slide if the guy doesn't attempt to finish the double play," Brewers manager Craig Counsell said after his team's 4-0 win, according to MLB.com's Todd Zolecki. "Well, the next time he did try to complete it. And we made a throw to first. And Machado was past the bag on the slide, and so we checked it immediately. And our guys in the replay room did a nice job being aggressive with the call."
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts agreed with the double-play ruling.
"We talk about it a lot when you go into second base that you have to really make an attempt to hold on to the bag or not try to - it's a safe play, as far as trying to protect the infielder," Roberts said. "And so Manny knows that. We talk about it all the time. And they looked at the review and they got it right. Because you do have to make a very good effort to hold on to the bag, and apparently we didn't."
(Videos courtesy: MLB.com)
