San Diego Padres third baseman Manny Machado hidden ball trick went wrong Saturday night, leading to a run for the Boston Red Sox in the third inning.
With Jarren Duran on third after Alex Bregman was caught in a rundown, Machado held onto the ball and tagged Duran after he took a lead. The play would have resulted in an out, but pitcher Wandy Peralta was standing on the rubber without the ball, triggering a balk that allowed Duran to score and put Boston ahead 2-1.
Had Peralta been off the mound for example, at the rosin bag, the play would have been legal.
“I thought it was a great baseball play. I’ll take some responsibility,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said. “You just can’t be on the rubber when that happens. Manny’s IQ shows up again, but it’s something we didn’t work on.”
