Tom Krasovic: Trust your eyes, not the nonsense, in Manny-Roberts flap

SAN DIEGO — Trust your eyes, not the nonsense.

Dodgers pitcher Jack Flaherty wasn’t trying to hit Fernando Tatis Jr. with the inside fastball that plunked Tatis’ thigh Sunday at Dodger Stadium.

Tatis himself said it was an accident. Of course it was. It would’ve been dumb for Flaherty to put Tatis on base on purpose when he did.

Nor was Manny Machado trying to hit or scare Dodgers manager Dave Roberts when he tossed a ball toward the dugout in the same Game 2 of this ultra-intense Division Series.

Video replays showed Machado made only a light toss into the ground from some 90 feet away.

I’ve seen more velocity on peanut bags tossed by ballpark vendors.

As for how two ballplayers responded — Machado accusing Flaherty of trying to hit Tatis Jr., and Flaherty jawing at Machado after seeing the ball bounce off the netting fronting Roberts?

No biggie. Just adrenalized ballplayers venting.

The curiosity was how Roberts, who’s in charge of Dodgers messaging, responded a day later when asked about Machado’s light toss toward him.

Roberts chose to make it a story. He succeeded, creating a dumb, media-fanned storm.

Responding to questions he knew were coming, Roberts said Monday he didn’t notice the third baseman’s throw. But, after seeing the video, he called it “unsettling.”

He added: “There was intent behind it … And that was very bothersome. If it was intended at me, I would be very — it’s pretty disrespectful. … I don’t know his intent. I don’t want to speak for him. But I did see the video. And the ball was directed at me with something behind it.”

Roberts also expressed displeasure with the third-base umpire, who, after the toss, put this arm around Machado.

“I don’t think they should have had a little arm-around-each-other conversation,” he said. “If players can throw balls at opposing managers, you know.”

It’s a mystery why Roberts decided to answer as he did.

The video showed a light flip of a throw, nothing more. A downward slope added speed. But it’s not unusual for infielders to throw toward either dugout between innings. If Machado was in fact sending a message, it was a tap on the shoulder. At most.

Talking to reporters before Tuesday’s Game 3, which the Padres won 6-5, Roberts distanced himself from his comments.

It’s not like Roberts, a former Padres player and coach, to stoke a cooling ember as he did. He’s the anti-Bobby Valentine in that respect.

Theory: he’s seen so many of his West-winning teams fall short in the World Series tournament, he may have decided he has nothing to lose by changing his game. Beloved throughout MLB, he’s also a scrappy dude — a cancer survivor who carved out a big-league career as a 28th-round draft pick.

Advantage, Padres

Padres starting pitcher Michael King allowed five runs in five innings Tuesday night, edging Dodgers counterpart Walker Buehler, who gave up six runs in five innings.

So it goes between the two teams.

In six Padres-Dodgers games dating to Sept. 24, the better pitching line has belonged to San Diego’s starter in five games. The best the Dodgers have done is draw even in the middle game of the three-game set in late September.

Both King and Buehler threw 77 pitches. King mostly pitched well outside the hanging breaker Teoscar Hernandez hit for a grand slam.

Short hops

Machado’s clever baserunning was critical to triggering the Padres’ 6-run outburst in the second inning. Veering toward the infield grass, the 6-foot-3 Machado took away the throwing angle of first baseman Freddie Freeman. Firing from his knees after fielding a grounder, Freeman threw the ball off Machado’s left shoulder, putting runners on the corners.

Could the Dodgers have made an appeal that Machado interfered illegally?

“No,” said a big-league manager via text. “He can establish his own basepath.”

Machado’s smart play recalled Yankees baserunner Reggie Jackson deflecting a throw with his hip in the 1978 World Series. A Dodgers infielder — Bill Russell — made that throw, too.

Well put, A-Rod

A longtime friend and mentor to Machado, former Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez suggested that when it comes to gamesmanship/WWE-style theater, the Padres’ star is more comfortable than Dodgers players and Roberts.

“Manny’s a great kid,” said Rodriguez, an analyst for the FS1 Network. “He enjoys being the heel. He enjoys being the bad guy. But, it’s not him. It’s the character.” Laughing, he added, “The Dodgers don’t feel comfortable in this craziness.”

Robert’s not rusty

Rust wasn’t evident as Robert Suarez, summoned with two outs and pinch-runner Chris Taylor on first base in the eighth inning, appeared in his first game since throwing a scoreless inning against the Braves six days earlier.

Suarez began with a 99-mph strike to Hernandez and struck him out with a 100-mph fastball.

All five of Suarez’s pitches in the at-bat — a sinker and four four-seamers — hit a border to the strike zone. Suarez got three more outs, the last a 101-mph tailer that struck out Gavin Lux, securing the 6-5 win.

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