Brusdar Graterol’s elaborate celebration after Cody Bellinger’s insane catch included blowing a kiss at Manny Machado—and Machado didn’t appreciate it one bit.
We still have playoff intensity
It’s a real shame the Dodgers–Padres series is only a best-of-five, because things are really starting to heat up between these two teams.
Los Angeles won on Wednesday night to take a 2–0 lead in the series behind a strong start from Clayton Kershaw. It would have been a very different story, though, if not for one ridiculous play by Cody Bellinger in centerfield.
In the top of the seventh, with the Padres trailing 4–3 and a runner on second, Fernando Tatís Jr. stepped to the plate and jumped on the first pitch he saw, hitting a blast to dead center. The ball went over the fence but Bellinger was there to bring it back, denying the Padres a go-ahead homer and ending the inning.
Brusdar Graterol, the Dodgers reliever who gave up the blast to Tatís, was (understandably) extremely hyped to have had his hide saved by Bellinger and celebrated like a madman. He threw his hat and glove in the air, ran around the infield thumping his chest and saluted Bellinger with a double finger-point. Fox color commentator John Smoltz, the grouchiest man in a broadcast booth these days, hated it. “I don’t know what that is,” Smoltz said.
(The celebration starts at the 1:22 mark of the video below.)
The coup de grâce, though, was the kiss Graterol blew in the direction of Padres third baseman Manny Machado, who had been standing in the on-deck circle. Man, that set Machado off.
In the span of seven seconds, Machado fired off a “motherf-----” and three “f--- yous” in Graterol’s direction. He capped it off by telling Graterol, “I’ll be waiting for you.”
Machado did get a chance at revenge leading off the next inning against Graterol. He grounded out to second.
It’s funny to see the Padres on the other side of an unwritten rules controversy after they became the poster boys for playing with emotion earlier this season. In fact, Machado himself celebrated a home run in the previous inning with an emphatic bat toss.
Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts, seen telling the Padres to get lost during the Machado–Graterol faceoff, told Fox’s Ken Rosenthal after the game that he had Machado’s bat flip on his mind when he saw what was going down.
Now, celebrating a homer and yelling at your own dugout is different than singling a guy out with a taunt, but that doesn’t make what Graterol did wrong. It was fun as hell when Jimmy Butler did it to LeBron James on Sunday. If that kind of trash talk becomes normalized in baseball, great
The best of SI
USC had 12 linebackers on its roster in 1989. Five died before the age of 50. ... The NFC East is really bad, but just how bad? ... NFL players should be given another chance to opt out of the season. ... MLB allowing fans for games in Arlington is unsafe and unsurprising.
Around the sports world
The Titans could face “historic” punishment for holding workouts while their practice facility was closed due to a COVID-19 outbreak. ... J.J. Watt reportedly had a heated exchange with Bill O’Brien before the coach got fired. ... The Chargers-Saints game might get moved to Indianapolis because of a hurricane forecasted to hit Louisiana. ... Ontario’s sports minister says the OHL will have to eliminate bodychecking to return.
Florida’s governor is a special kind of reckless
Didn’t curve it enough
It’s like when the NFL had two guys named Adrian Peterson
John Daly is one-of-a-kind
Not sports
A man in Michigan is accused of pooping in a box at a supermarket and putting it back on the shelf. ... Somebody bought a T-Rex skeleton at auction for $31.8 million. ... A California man allegedly tried to fly to Nashville with 87 pounds of marijuana.
As someone who was in Cancún like a week before the pandemic popped off, I’m glad this didn’t happen to me
Wrestling a cow to the ground like it’s no big deal
Not the most frustrating thing you have to deal with covering the White House
That would make a great Halloween decoration
A good song
Email dan.gartland@si.com with any feedback or follow me on Twitter for approximately one half-decent baseball joke per week. Bookmark this page to see previous editions of Hot Clicks and find the newest edition every day. By popular request I’ve made a Spotify playlist of the music featured here. Visit our Extra Mustard page throughout each day for more offbeat sports stories.