Three wild pitches in one inning started a chain reaction that cost the San Diego Padres their manager. It all began when Baltimore Orioles pitcher Trey Gibson threw two dangerous pitches. These pitches hit two Padres stars, Manny Machado and Xander Bogaerts, in the fifth inning. To get payback, San Diego pitcher Ron Marinaccio threw a ball at Gunnar Henderson later in the game. This revenge led directly to Marinaccio’s ejection.

Now, Major League Baseball has punished the people involved for this late-game drama.

“Ron Marinaccio has been suspended three games for intentionally hitting Gunnar Henderson,” Talkin’ Baseball shared via X.

Reportedly, Marinaccio appealed the suspension, which would now be applied after his appeal is resolved. Marinaccio would have served the suspension on Monday against the St. Louis Cardinals. Additionally, the Padres manager, Craig Stammen, was also served with a 1-game suspension and an undisclosed fine, and he will miss the dugout on Monday.

It all started in the fifth inning when the Orioles’ Trey Gibson threw a pitch high and inside enough to knock down Machado. In the same inning, Gibson’s 93.5 mph sinker took down Bogaerts as the ball hit his helmet, knocking him down. Trainers rushed in, and Bogaerts left the game with a visible spasm in the neck. That was the foundation laid for a revenge to get organized.

The payback started in the ninth inning. First, Padres pitcher Bradgley Rodriguez threw two inside pitches very close to Henderson. Both pitches missed. However, despite dodging the inside pitches, Henderson couldn’t save himself from Marinaccio in the ninth. A brutal 94 mph four-seamer hit Henderson’s waist, triggering a bench-clearing event. Marinaccio was immediately ejected, followed by Stammen for arguing the call. But both maintained the hit as unintentional.

“He’s a great hitter. You’ve got to make hitters like that uncomfortable at times, and I pulled a fastball a little bit too much there,” Marinaccio said about Henderson. “I could understand the visual, a couple of guys pitching inside earlier, but there were no warnings.”

The Orioles batter doesn’t think so. “I guess they were trying to get payback,” Henderson said, “so I guess we’re even now.”

Even the Orioles’ manager, Craig Albernaz, rejected the narrative that Gibson intentionally hit Bogaerts.

“Trey (Gibson) hit Bogaerts in the head, and their dugout didn’t like it at all. Obviously, it definitely wasn’t intentional. It was a two-seam that slipped out of his hand,” Albernaz said on Saturday.

Marinaccio is fighting his three-game suspension. This means he can keep playing until the league makes a final choice. But managers cannot appeal. Stammen served his one-game ban on Monday against the St. Louis Cardinals. This left a struggling Padres team without its leader.

The Padres are in urgent need of power hitting

The Padres are ranked 30th in terms of total runs (272), average (.217), and slugging % (.361). This sums up how the key names at the plate are struggling.

“In the Padres’ case, a lineup of ice-cold power bats has sent the team spiraling. San Diego has scored 90 runs in its past 30 games while posting a collective .592 OPS and barely-there .323 slugging,” ESPN’s Bradford Doolittle noted.

Their star players are just not hitting well this year. Manny Machado is batting a terrible .177. Jackson Merrill is hitting .205, and Bogaerts is batting .226. Because the offense is so quiet, rumors are flying about what the team might do at the summer trade deadline. One huge rumor connects the Padres to Philadelphia Phillies star Bryce Harper.

Since the Philadelphia Phillies’ president, Dave Dombrowski, quoted Harper as no longer “elite,” Harper’s leaving the Phillies is gaining momentum. He is currently hitting .253 with 15 homers and a .851 OPS, exactly what the Padres need right now.

“The thought of Harper at first base should have Preller salivating,” Bleacher Report’s Zachary Rymer wrote.

The Padres are currently ranked second in the division with a 37-34 record, but their subdued offense could haunt them big in the late season. An aggressive trade deadline could save the team from the same.