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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Manny Machado has stepped into trouble again Joey Votto Jersey , causing at least one opponent to call him “a dirty player.”Both benches cleared after the Los Angeles Dodgers‘ star shortstop clipped the back leg of Milwaukee first baseman Jesus Aguilar while running out his groundout Tuesday night in the 10th inning of Game 4 of the NL Championship Series.Aguilar left his foot on the base for a moment after Machado was already out, and the star shortstop appeared to show his displeasure by bringing his left foot forward and kicking Aguilar on the back of the leg.The incident immediately took the top spot on the growing list of Machado’s debatable decisions in baseball ethics.“He’s a player that has a history of those types of incidents,” Milwaukee slugger Christian Yelich said. “One time is an accident. Repeated over and over and over again, you’re just a dirty player. It’s a dirty play by a dirty player, and that’s what it is. I have a lot of respect for him as a player, but you can’t respect someone who plays the game like that.”Aguilar wasn’t hurt, but he was angry. Dodgers first base coach George Lombard joined the discussion before players spilled onto the field from both benches and bullpens.“I was trying to get over him and hit his foot,” Machado said. “If that’s dirty, that’s dirty. I don’t know. Call it what you want.”Nothing happened beyond that spirited argument, and the two principals made up after Machado singled in the 13th inning. He briefly hugged Aguilar while they stood together at first base.“We’re family. Things happen,” said Machado, who scored the winning run moments later. “Everything that happens on the field stays on the field. He’s a great guy. We go way back since the minor leagues. So it’s just a friendly game, go out http://www.redsfanproshop.com/authentic-brandon-finnegan-jersey , try and compete here. We’re trying to win. He’s trying to do whatever he can to help his team over there, and we’re doing the same over here.”The rest of the Brewers didn’t appear to be quite as forgiving. Infielder Travis Shaw also called it dirty, and Yelich followed up his postgame criticism of Machado by yelling a profane epithet as he walked away from his locker.“The play at first today is a pretty dirty play,” Shaw said. “It’s not a mistake. You don’t kick somebody like that on accident. You can say it wasn’t on purpose, this and that, but it’s a dirty play.Just a few weeks before the 26-year-old Machado likely hits the open market as one of the most desirable free agents in baseball, the big-hitting shortstop has become the latest star to tread the well-worn line between fierce competitors and dirty players.The four-time All-Star also caused controversy Monday in Game 3 with two hard slides into second base while shortstop Orlando Arcia attempted to turn double plays. The second one resulted in a double play for the Brewers after video review .“It’s a beauty pageant,” Alex Rodriguez said on Fox Sports’ postgame show. “You have 30 owners (who) all want you right now. The whole world is watching baseball. You don’t want four, five owners to sit around and say, ‘Hey, did you see what Manny did? Did you see that? Oh, yeah, yeah Reggie Sanders Jersey , we’re out. We like him, but now we’re out.’ You’re losing tens of millions of dollars by the second if that becomes the narrative.”Machado already had drawn the ire of ex-players and old-school baseball men from Jim Palmer to Eric Byrnes with his occasional lack of hustle. While Machado has been criticized for not running out grounders and making hustle plays over the years, he also showed he’s got plenty of pep when properly motivated: He sprinted from second to home on Cody Bellinger’s two-out single in the 13th, sticking out his left hand to touch home plate as he beat Yelich’s throw to the plate and slid past Erik Kratz’s tag. Machado didn’t run out a grounder in Game 2 of the NLCS , adding to the negative attention in this series. In an interview with Fox Sports 1 that aired before Game 4 , he acknowledged there was “no excuse” for not making more effort — but also displayed an attitude that won’t endear him to the old school.“I’m not the type of player that’s going to be Johnny Hustle and run down the line and slide to first base,” Machado said. “That’s just not my personality. That’s not my cup of tea. That’s not who I am.”Machado attracted disdain early in the 2017 season with a hard slide into Boston second baseman Dustin Pedroia . Machado got his spikes into Pedroia’s left ankle and knee as he slid over the base, and his Orioles had a testy relationship with the Red Sox for the rest of the season .The Dodgers acquired Machado from Baltimore this season for their playoff push, and to replace injured shortstop Corey Seager. Machado had 37 homers and 107 RBIs in the regular season, and he batted .242 in the first eight games of the postseason.After he got two hits in Game 3, Machado’s frustration at the plate also probably played a role in his mood in Game 4. His groundout dropped him to 0 for 5 as the Dodgers’ cleanup hitter. CHICAGO (AP) — Even though it meant a premature end to his first season in Chicago, Yu Darvish said Thursday that he was relieved when an MRI revealed a stress reaction in his right elbow.“At first, I was told it was a simple tightness Johnny Bench Jersey , but I always knew there was something else other than the tightness,” Darvish said through a translator before the Cubs played the Reds at Wrigley Field.“With the diagnosis, I’m relieved to know what that something is.”Darvish has been sidelined since late May with what was at first diagnosed as triceps and elbow injuries. The Cubs were hoping to get the veteran right-hander back for the final month of the season, but Darvish left a rehab start Sunday with Single-A South Bend after one inning and 18 pitches, complaining of elbow pain. He had an MRI the next day.“I know what it’s like, tightness in the triceps area,” he said. “In the four to five weeks of the rehab process, the pain remained.”The 32-year-old Darvish signed a six-year, $126 million contract with the Cubs as a free agent last offseason. The big contract and his performance this season before the injury — 1-3 with a 4.95 ERA in eight starts — didn’t earn him the benefit of the doubt with fans. Neither did his struggles in the World Series last season while pitching for the Dodgers (0-2 with a 21.60 ERA in two starts).Writing in an emotional blog post earlier in the week, the Japanese player acknowledged that the criticism affected him.“Every morning when I woke up, I would pray, ‘I have to throw today, please let there be no pain.’ Those were very gloomy days http://www.redsfanproshop.com/authentic-joe-morgan-jersey ,” Darvish wrote. “Meanwhile, the atmosphere around me had become, ‘Is he faking an injury?’ ‘Is it a mental problem?’ Those words made it extremely difficult for me to stop and rest, and it really took a toll on me emotionally.”Darvish said Thursday that the failure of doctors to initially discover a significant injury caused him to doubt himself.“Until the diagnosis, there were times when I thought it could be my mental side,” he said.Darvish said he was told that six weeks of rest should clear up the problem — no surgery is planned — and he is expected to be healthy for the start of spring training.He was asked if he’s looking forward to next season.“It’s really hard to think about next year at this point,” he said. “Right now, all I can do is do what’s best for my arm.”