SERIES REMAINS HOT AS RED SOX DEFEAT ORIOLES
baltimore» A tempestuous three-game series between AL East foes wound up with Orioles star Manny Machado seeing a fastball sail behind his head and Matt Barnes getting ejected for throwing it Sunday in Boston’s 6-2 victory.
The high, very inside pitch came two days after Machado spiked Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia with an aggressive slide.
Pedroia watched from the dugout for a second straight day with knee and ankle injuries. Machado apologized with a text message on Friday night, but that evidently wasn’t the end of it.
“That’s on them,” Machado said. “Whatever happened today, I’m going to keep (being) me.”
When Machado batted in the sixth inning, Eduardo Rodriguez threw three pitches down and in near the knees. Machado came up again in the eighth and Barnes’ fastball whizzed behind Machado and hit his bat. The ball hit Machado and rolled foul, and plate umpire Andy Fletcher tossed Barnes.
“I would never intentionally throw at someone’s head. That’s kind of a line you don’t cross,” Barnes said.
Boston manager John Farrell — who on Saturday called the league office to discuss about what he called “an illegal slide” by Machado — insisted Barnes’ wayward pitch was nothing more than an accident.
But Orioles first baseman Chris Davis thought the fastball was intentionally directed at Machado’s head.
SUNDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS
Pittsburgh’s Ivan Nova gained a measure of revenge over his old team, limiting the Yankees to just four hits over seven innings as the Pirates held on for a 2-1 victory. … Former Cheyenne Mountain High School star Brandon McCarthy (3-0) pitched seven strong innings to help the Dodgers defeat the Diamondbacks 6-2. … Mike Leake allowed two runs over six innings and drove in two runs to lead the Cardinals to a 6-4 victory over the … Nelson Cruz homered and drove in five runs, Taylor Motter hit his first career grand slam and the Mariners routed the Athletics 11-1. … Ryan Zimmerman slugged his sixth home run of the season and the Nationals defeated the Mets 6-3. … Marcus Stroman pitched a seven-hitter and Devon Travis hit a go-ahead, two-run homer during a fourrun eighth inning in the Blue Jays’ 6-2 victory over the Angels. … Yu Darvish pitched eight innings in his longest outing since elbow surgery two years ago and the Rangers scored the tying and go-ahead runs without a hit, completing a four-game sweep with a 5-2 win over the Royals. … Cesar Hernandez, Aaron Altherr and Odubel Herrera hit consecutive homers in the eighth inning as the Phillies beat the Braves 5-2. … John Hicks had three hits, including his first career homer, and drove in five runs to lead Michael Fulmer and the Tigers to a 13-4 victory over the Twins. … Bronson Arroyo, 40, gave the best performance during his long comeback, pitching three-hit ball over six innings as the Reds beat the Cubs 7-5. … Melky Cabrera drove in two runs as the White Sox busted out of an offensive funk for a 6-2 win over the Indians. … Brian McCann and Yuli Gurriel both had RBI singles in the 10th inning, and the Astros rallied from an early fourrun deficit to beat the Rays 6-4. … Justin Bour hit a three-run homer to cap the six-run sixth inning and help the Marlins to a 7-3 victory against the Padres.