Orioles and Athletics benches clear after Machado throws bat

To say things got a little heated between the Orioles and Athletics on Sunday would be an understatement. Umpires ejected Baltimore third baseman Manny Machado and Oaklnd pitcher Fernando Abad after Abad threw inside on Machado and Machado appeared to throw his bat on the following pitch. 

This appeared to start back in the sixth inning when Machado hit Athletics catcher Derek Norris in the head on his back swing. Norris left the game (but should be OK to play in Anaheim on Monday) and was replaced by Stephen Vogt. 

When Machado came up to bat in the eighth with the O's down 10-0, Abad threw too close for comfort. On the next pitch, Machado's bat ended up behind Albert Collaspo at third base.

Eventually, the scrum dissipated as the umpires elected to toss Machado for throwing the bat and Abad, presumably for the previous inside pitch.

While we'd all like to hope that this was an isolated incident, it's no secret that the Orioles and Athletics are at odds, more so than you might expect.

They next meet on July 18th in Oakland.