Boston Red Sox ace Chris Sale threw behind Baltimore Orioles third baseman Manny Machado in Tuesday’s game, which you can see here. It will likely earn him a suspension.
Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports spoke with Joe Torre, MLB’s chief baseball officer. While no pregame warnings were issued for Wednesday’s game, Torre gave the impression that a suspension was forthcoming.
https://twitter.com/Ken_Rosenthal/status/859855858498490374
“That’s something we don’t really tolerate, throwing behind somebody . . . that’s something that’s dangerous,” Torre said, via Rosenthal. “It looked like it was intentional. Chris Sale is a great pitcher. When he throws the ball behind somebody, unless it’s a rainy day. I don’t see that being by mistake.”
MLB’s front office has obviously seen enough from these two teams. According to Boston manager John Farrell, commissioner Rob Manfred put his foot down.
Tough discipline is absolutely necessary in these situations. Given the personalities on the two teams and the fact that they have four more series with each other, it’s even more needed in this case.