Fernando Tatis Jr. puts MLB insider on blast for Machado hit piece after Padres win

The San Diego Padres defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers by a run in Game 3 at Petco Park, and Fernando Tatis Jr. had a little extra motivation heading into Tuesday night's contest. Tatis Jr. went yard and continued his red-hot postseason, much to the chagrin of Walker Buehler and the Dodgers.

The home run and bat flip that coincided with it set Petco ablaze, and despite a push by the Dodgers just a half inning later, the Padres never looked back. The 6-5 result pushes Los Angeles, fresh off a winter in which they signed Shohei Ohtani, to the brink of elimination.

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Fernando Tatis Jr. got revenge for fellow Padres star Manny Machado

Early on Tuesday, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic published an article about the Padres and Tatis Jr.'s teammate, Manny Machado. The Padres star made headlines for the wrong reasons in Game 2, as he soft-tossed a baseball towards the Dodgers dugout and Dave Roberts, who was particularly taken aback. Machado and the Padres also got in a war of words with Dodgers pitcher Jack Flaherty. Suffice to say, this rivalry has all the fire it needs moving forward.

"It was unsettling," Roberts said of Machado in Game 2. "Obviously I have a relationship with Manny from years past. There was intent behind it. It didn't almost hit me because there was a net. And that was very bothersome. If it was intended at me, I would be very -- it's pretty disrespectful. So, 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. But I don't know what led to that."

Nonetheless, an alternate angle of Machado's toss proved Roberts wrong in record timing. While there may have been some intent behind Machado's actions, there wasn't any extra zip on this ball.

Ken Rosenthal's column got Fernando Tatis Jr.'s attention

And this takes us back to Rosenthal, whose article on Tuesday felt like a stretch at the time. In particular, Tatis Jr. took note of one quote, which he posted on social media after the game.

"Machado is far from the Padres’ only irritant. Fernando Tatis Jr. is a smiling, dancing peacock," Rosenthal wrote, calling out both San Diego stars individually. "Jurickson Profar is the kid who pulls the fire alarm at school and then asks, “Who, me?”"

Short of dressing up like a peacock and running onto the field, this is about the best revenge Tatis Jr. can get. He let his play do the talking, and the Padres star is slashing .500/.571/1.988 with three home runs so far this postseason. Good luck to you, Los Angeles. You're going to need it.