While the Dodgers were taking a gut-punch during Game 2 of the NLDS, losing to the San Diego Padres 10-2, the tension boiled over for the fans at Dodger Stadium -- in what was a rowdy night at Elysian Park. The game was forced to pause for nine minutes in the seventh inning when fans started throwing stuff at San Diego Padres players. "There's no reason ever to throw anything at players, no matter what is going on," Dodgers pitcher Jack Flaherty said. The tension seemed to have started in the first inning. Padres outfielder Jurickson Profar robbed Mookie Betts of a homerun, snagging the ball out of the stands. Later in the game, he handed a ball to a Dodger fan -- who then threw it back on the field. That fan was Mario Zazueta. "Profar has a ball and he just looks right at me. I said 'I don't want it,'" Zazueta said. "I said, 'No, I'm gonna chuck it.' He just, with a big ol' smile and grin, and he handed me the ball. So as soon as I got that ball, I just turn around and I chuck it down the line." Seconds later, another ball is tossed near Profar. And when other items started hitting the field, security swarmed the outfield. Zazueta ended up getting tossed from the game. He said he understands why, though he's a little upset that other fans started throwing things on the field triggering that pause in the game. "It just puts a black eye on the Dodger's market because 99.9% of the people are not like that," Zazueta said. "You get those one-percenters that just ruin for everybody." The Dodgers didn't comment on the fan behavior Sunday night, but fans put a lot of the blame for the game interruption on the Padres players for egging on the crowd. "When I saw the video of him actually taunting - like when you go back and look what he's doing, back and forth, I can see why - even though it wasn't correct - for throwing items onto the field," Dodgers fan Javier Gonzalez said. The Los Angeles Police Department said no arrests were made at the stadium Sunday night. Game 3 of the NLDS is slated for Tuesday in San Diego.

The Padres' Zero-Tolerance Policy SAN DIEGO -- The Padres have reminded fans about their zero-tolerance policy for bad behavior ahead of Game 3 of their National League Division Series against the rival Dodgers, which turned contentious Sunday night when tempers flared on the field and in the stands at Dodger Stadium. Game 2 was delayed for 12 minutes after rowdy fans tossed baseballs in the direction of San Diego left fielder Jurickson Profar, and then threw trash onto the outfield. Profar had robbed Mookie Betts of a home run in the first inning, reaching into the stands behind the low left-field wall. He trolled the fans by staring at them and then hopping up and down several times before throwing the ball to the infield. Additionally, Dodgers starter Jack Flaherty and Padres third baseman Manny Machado directed expletives at each other a handful of times, including after Flaherty hit Fernando Tatis Jr. with a pitch and after he struck out Machado. Game 3 is Tuesday night and Game 4 is Wednesday night at Petco Park. In a statement emailed to season-ticket holders and posted on social media, Padres team president Erik Greupner credited fans with creating the best home-field advantage in baseball while reiterating that any fan who throws items onto the field or makes offensive, foul or abusive comments to anyone will be ejected. "Our game is at its best when our players and fans give everything they have for their team and city while showing respect and sportsmanship towards players and fans of the opposing team," Greupner wrote. "There is never an excuse for abusive speech or behavior towards others at Petco Park. "As we continue our push for a World Series Championship, our team needs you more than ever," Greupner added. "Please continue to cheer for the Padres with all you have while showing class and good sportsmanship to those around you." The Padres drew a club-record 3,314,593 fans to the downtown ballpark, with 56 sellouts in 80 games. They gave up one home game to play a two-game opening series in Seoul, South Korea, against the Dodgers.

The Dodgers' Unbecoming Conduct More than a game was lost Sunday night when the Padres equaled the National League Division Series at one game apiece with a 10-2 victory over the Dodgers. An already tattered image was further damaged. A historically bad reputation was further stained. Anyone out there walking around town wearing a Dodgers jersey today should be embarrassed. On a national stage, a few bad actors among the largest Dodger Stadium crowd of the season only furthered the harmful narrative that Chavez Ravine is a place stocked with punks. In a startling display for a game of this magnitude, a pack of sorry spectators caused the game to be stopped for nearly 10 minutes before the bottom of the seventh inning while balls and bottles rained onto the field. "I’ve seen over a thousand games here, well over a thousand games in this ballpark, and I’ve never seen anything like that," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. "So obviously there’s a lot of emotions and things like that. But that’s something that should never happen." The Dodgers fans had once again let the taunting, preening Padres get under their skin. "Dodger fans, they were just not happy," Tatis said. "They’re losing the game, obviously, and just a lot of back and forth. What can I say? I wish they could control it a little bit more, their emotions." To make matters worse, the Dodgers also let the Padres get under their skin, wilting under a barrage of Padres aggressiveness on a night when the visitors danced all over Dodger Stadium with six home runs, a stolen home run, and all sorts of celebrations to accompany it all. "That’s one of those that you just kind of want to wash away and get to the next day," Roberts said. The Padres were tacky, but that was no excuse for Dodgers fans to be idiots. Their actions impossibly turned the Padres’ bad actors into the good guys. "It was a bunch of dudes that showed up in front of a big, hostile crowd with stuff being thrown at them and said, ‘We’re going to talk with our play; we’re not going to back down; we’re going to elevate our game; we’re going to be together; and we’re going to take care of business,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said. The Padres were on the attack, but that was no excuse for the Dodgers to retreat behind spotty pitching from Jack Flaherty and impatient hitting against aging Padres starter Yu Darvish. They turned a reeling Padres team into winners. "It was ugly," said Roberts. "It was ugly." The best-of-five series now moves to San Diego’s Petco Park, where, thanks to Sunday’s disturbance, the rowdy Padres fans will now be poised to retaliate. They don’t like the Dodgers down there. Now they’re going to like them a lot less. "I know we’re about to go back to San Diego with a very, very loud, raucous, aggressive, hungry crowd that’s going to be super excited and going to be getting after it," said Shildt. "But I know also that we’ll stay classy, San Diego." The Dodgers will not only be clunking down the 5 Freeway on the flattened tires of lousy starting pitching, but they could also be without Freddie Freeman, whose badly sprained ankle led him to leave Sunday’s game in the sixth inning. Winning two out of three against a surging Padres team that suddenly has home-field advantage was already going to be a tough chore. What happened Sunday is going to make it tougher.

Machado's Sinister Sling After the security stoppage in the seventh inning, Manny Machado led the Padres in what appeared to be an emotional impromptu team meeting in their dugout. They were holding a 4-1 lead at the time. In the final three innings they outscored the Dodgers 6-1. "Just regroup, resettle," said Tatis of the meeting. "The game was on our side. We know what we’re capable of. And, man, it was just a reminder who we really are as a group and just how crazy we can turn a place to go nuts. That’s all it was about." When recounting Game 2, it’s important not to cast Padres as unblemished heroes. In fact, they started it all. In the first inning, Profar lunged into the left-field corner stands to steal a home run from Mookie Betts. Ironically, in one moment where it would have been good for Dodgers fans to be aggressive, they got tentative by allowing Profar to make the catch. Profar then taunted those fans by facing the stands and dancing in their faces. In the fourth inning, it got worse after Tatis made a lunging catch of a Freeman drive in right field. He then proceeded to sarcastically lead the profane chants of fans in the right-field pavilion. The bad blood reached a boiling point in the sixth inning when Flaherty hit Tatis in the side, leading to a stare from the tempestuous right fielder and words from Profar. Moments later, with Tatis and Profar on first and second, Machado struck out, after which Flaherty appeared to shout a profane taunt at him that led to shouts from both dugouts. Flaherty was removed from the game after the strikeout, but that didn’t quell the jawing, as Flaherty stood on the fringes of the dugout and continued to verbally spar with Machado throughout the bottom of the sixth. One inning later, after the seventh-inning stretch, the chaos broke loose as Profar and Tatis were surrounded by security guards while public address announcer Todd Leitz pleaded for order. The rest of the game was completed without incident. But, in a series in which Roberts urged his team to throw the first punch, the Padres have punched back, and the Dodgers fans have punched badly, and this dance is just getting started.

The Aftermath Yep, I said it, right there on national TV. During Fox Sports’ Sunday night broadcast of Game 2 of the Division Series, I spoke about an emotional meeting Manny Machado led in the San Diego Padres’ dugout. The huddle followed a tumultuous seventh inning in which fans at Dodger Stadium threw baseballs and beer cans onto the field. "Manny Machado has taken a lot of criticism in his career," I said. "For being too laid-back. For occasionally playing dirty. For being the kind of player you don’t want to build around. Well, what we saw in that dugout tonight, in that meeting, that was the most visible and powerful act of leadership in his career. He’s 32 now. Clearly a different guy." Ah, if I only knew then what we learned after the game and during Monday’s workout at Petco Park. That Machado threw a ball toward the Dodgers dugout. That it struck the netting in front of Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. That the throw was forceful enough for the carom to carry out toward home plate. Two things can be true. Machado indeed showed leadership in the dugout, draping his arm around catcher Kyle Higashioka and imploring his teammates to maintain their focus. But his punkish response to Dodgers right-hander Jack Flaherty hitting Fernando Tatis Jr. with a 91.7 mph sinker, well, that was Manny being Manny. Again. Flaherty almost certainly did not hit Tatis intentionally leading off the sixth inning, not with the Dodgers trailing, 3-1. Yet, Machado all but volunteered after the game that his act was retaliatory. When informed that the Dodgers thought he threw the ball hard, he told The Athletic, "Did Flaherty throw the ball hard at our guy?" Perhaps only Machado could explain how the two acts equate. Yet, livid as the Dodgers were —  and are — not even they believe Machado was actually trying to hit Roberts. While Roberts called the third baseman’s act “unsettling and disrespectful,” several Dodgers people said they thought Machado was trying to send their team a message, not cause injury. Still, Machado’s stunt was inappropriate, and not particularly smart. The Athletic viewed video of the incident that is clearer and separate from what is currently in the public realm.  Third base umpire Tripp Gibson approached Machado moments after his Sinister Sling. If Gibson had ejected Machado, it would have been an overreaction. But if the benches had cleared, Machado almost certainly would have been tossed for being an instigator. Tossed from a postseason game with his team leading by three runs but trailing in the series. The Dodgers submitted video for Major League Baseball to review, but no one should hold their breath waiting for disciplinary action. Machado’s throw did not hit anyone, giving him plausible deniability. The bigger question, perhaps, is whether the Dodgers will retaliate against Machado in Game 3 on Tuesday night. At the Padres’ home park. Where fans agitated by the indefensible conduct of some of their Dodgers counterparts Sunday night are certain to be in a frenzy. Good luck with that. At the moment, one thing seems clear: The Padres aren’t just a heck of a team. They’re also inside the Dodgers’ heads. Teams often take on the personalities of their leaders. As the Padres’ leader, Machado is entirely willing to engage in conduct some might consider unbecoming, and he’s unapologetic about it. The best way for the Dodgers to deal with him is to beat him. And that will be easier said than done. Machado is far from the Padres’ only irritant. Fernando Tatis Jr. is a smiling, dancing peacock. Jurickson Profar is the kid who pulls the fire alarm at school and then asks, "Who, me?" Yet this is a far more cohesive group than it was last season, a fully functional unit instead of a mere collection of stars. And Machado, difficult as this might be for some to believe, has demonstrated growth from the player he once was. This is a player who in 2014 triggered a benches-clearing incident when he objected to a hard tag by Josh Donaldson. This is a player who in 2016 charged the mound and threw punches at the Royals’ Yordano Ventura. This is a player who in 2017 caused the injury that brought on the end of Dustin Pedroia’s career with a hard slide that some perceived as dirty. And let’s not forget Machado’s heel turn with the Dodgers in the 2018 National League Championship Series, when he twice slid questionably into Brewers shortstop Orlando Arcia in Game 3 and clipped first baseman Jesús Aguilar running out a grounder in Game 4. He also generated controversy during that series for explaining his failure to run out a grounder by telling me in an interview on FS1, "Obviously, I’m not going to change, I’m not the type of player that’s going to be ‘Johnny Hustle’ and run down the line and slide to first base … that’s just not my personality, that’s not my cup of tea, that’s not who I am." Six years later, those words still ring true. Machado in some ways is more mature. Padres right-hander Yu Darvish singles out Machado and Joe Musgrove for being especially supportive while he missed nearly two months this season attending to a personal matter. Even Sunday night, Machado barely reacted when Flaherty cursed him after striking him out with two on in the sixth, and later praised Flaherty for winning the battle. The old Machado might have charged the mound. All that constitutes progress, even if the initial bar was low. The team meeting in the dugout offered further testament that Machado is the emotional center of the team. But the Sinister Sling demonstrated again that Machado remains all too eager to play the villain. It was Manny being Manny. Again.