Manny Machado Lashes Out at Reporter After Padres’ Playoff Exit

The San Diego Padres’ season came to a frustrating end on Wednesday night, as they fell 3-1 to the Chicago Cubs in Game 3 of the National League Wild Card series. After rallying to force a decisive matchup with a Game 2 victory, the Padres saw their hopes of an upset crushed by a controversial strike call and a few unlucky breaks in the late innings.

In the top of the ninth, rookie Jackson Merrill gave the Padres life with a solo home run. But with runners on second and third and two outs, Xander Bogaerts went down on a pitch well below the strike zone. The missed call proved costly—two batters were later hit by pitches, which would have loaded the bases with no outs had the Bogaerts at-bat been extended. Instead, San Diego’s season ended on a sour note, and the frustration in the clubhouse was palpable.

One moment that quickly grabbed headlines didn’t happen on the field, but in the locker room afterward. Star third baseman Manny Machado, a seven-time All-Star and the face of the franchise, was asked by CBS 8 San Diego’s Jake Garegnani how he would “assess a season like this” after such a crushing loss.

Machado did not take kindly to the timing of the question.

“I mean, what type of question is that, dude? My guy, how do I assess the season? We just lost. How do you think I assess the season?” Machado fired back.

When Garegnani clarified that he asked because he didn’t know Machado’s perspective, the veteran doubled down.

“You tell me. What’s a loss? We lost. How do you assess it? It’s a loss. You lost. (Laughs). Come on, dude. I mean, you can ask better questions than that. Let’s go. Come on. … You’re going to wait until the last second to ask that? Come on, bro, you know better than that.”

While Machado’s response may have come off as harsh, it’s not difficult to understand. The Padres weren’t eliminated by poor play alone—they were also victims of questionable umpiring in the most critical inning of their season. In that context, asking for a full-season reflection moments after the loss was always going to draw an answer fueled more by emotion than reason.

For San Diego, the offseason begins with big questions. The roster has the talent to compete, but consistency has eluded them. Whether this year’s early exit becomes fuel for redemption or another chapter in an underachieving narrative will depend on how the front office and stars like Machado respond in the months ahead.