Manny Machado was ejected from Tuesday’s San Diego Padres-Arizona Diamondbacks game, and now we know why.
Machado was batting in the bottom of the first inning and had a full count with nobody on and two outs. He tried to call for a timeout with eight seconds left on the pitch clock. Home plate umpire Ron Kulpa instead called the Padres star for a pitch clock violation. The penalty for a violation is an automatic strike, which caused Machado to strikeout.
https://twitter.com/BALLYSPORTSAZ/status/1643349600281960448
A disagreement over the timeout isn’t what led to Machado’s ejection. Rather, the Padres third baseman called Kulpa a “d–chebag.”
It appears the reason Manny Machado was ejected in today's game is because "he called me a douchebag."
Bob Melvin's reaction to the explanation is hilarious. pic.twitter.com/97Tt382oTv
— Danny Vietti (@DannyVietti) April 4, 2023
It was right after Machado called Kulpa that word that the umpire tossed the Padres batter.
When Padres manager Bob Melvin tried to protest the ejection, Kulpa told him what Machado said. Melvin dropped his head in disbelief.
Nobody wants to see a star player get ejected like that, and some may argue the timeout request should have been granted. But Machado also crossed a line with the name-calling. Melvin’s reaction told you all you need to know.
