Padres star Manny Machado was called out on Tuesday after a pitch clock violation resulted in a third strike in his first at-bat against the Diamondbacks.
The third baseman was livid with the decision from home plate umpire Ron Kulpa, who proceeded to eject him from the game after a frustrated Machado could be seen arguing the decision.
Padres manager Bob Melvin came out to plead his case alongside Machado, but after an extended and animated conversation, Kulpa sent Melvin packing with an early ejection, too.
On the play that resulted in the pitch clock violation, Machado could be seen tapping his cleats with his bat and re-adjusting his batting gloves while standing in the box. Zac Gallen was clearly ready to pitch, but the 30-year-old continued to fidget with his equipment. Kulpa proceeded to call time and rule the automatic strike, which ended both Machado’s at-bat and the Padres’ half of the inning.
Machado is the latest player to fall victim to MLB’s new pitch clock rules, and it ended up being quite costly for the six-time All-Star.
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Manny Machado struck out due to a pitch clock violation, and was subsequently ejected for arguing the decision. pic.twitter.com/8nunHfDY2j
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Machado is the latest player to fall victim to MLB’s new pitch clock rules, and it ended up being quite costly for the six-time All-Star.
San Diego’s star infielder spoke on the new rules prior to the season, and he admitted that he “might be down 0–1 a lot” due to the increased pace that comes with the rule change.
Despite his preseason prediction, Machado couldn’t hold back his frustrations after getting rung up on account of the new rules, and he gave Kulpa an earful before exiting to the locker room.
