Wrapping up a 4-3 win and the benches-clearing incident

WASHINGTON - The Orioles won last night and most of the attention fell upon closer Zach Britton, who revealed that he couldn't pitch due to a strained left lat muscle. The Orioles won tonight and most of the attention fell upon third baseman Manny Machado, who hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the seventh but was targeted by the media after being targeted by Nationals closer Jonathan Papelbon.

Now it's a rivalry.

Papelbon threw high and tight on his first pitch to Machado in the ninth. The third pitch drilled Machado in the shoulder, again near the head, and both benches emptied as Papelbon was ejected.

A 4-3 victory over the Nationals, the Orioles' 10th win in 14 games, raised the level of emotions beyond the final score.

"It's just bull(crap)," said Machado, who produced his 30th home run on the 122nd and final pitch from Max Scherzer. "A 10-year vet, with more than 10 years in the game and he's going to go out there and throw at somebody's head. I mean, once, and then he throws a curveball to kind of (change) the mood, then throws up at the head. It's something that's uncalled for. It's bull(crap). It's something that you don't do. I expect more from a guy like that with the past that he has.

"You've just got to go out there and keep playing baseball. It's part of the game. If you can't take the heat, just stay out of the kitchen and just go on from it. You don't throw at somebody's head. I think that's bull(crap). I think we've just got to keep playing baseball."

Machado, who admired his home run into the Red Porch area in left-center field, was asked whether he's being targeted.

"I don't necessarily think I'm being targeted," he said. "I'm going up there making good swings. If people are trying to hit me, it's part of the game. I'm not worried about getting hit. I'll take the hits. Its part of the game. Pitchers out there, the ball can slip out of your hand, but when you throw at the head on first pitch right from the get-go, then you throw a curveball and then you throw again at the head, that's just bull(crap). It's coward stuff. It's just cowardly."

Papelbon didn't leave the dugout after being ejected, which is another matter entirely.

Crew chief Brian O'Nora explained plate umpire Mark Ripperger's reasoning behind the ejection.

"He thought it was intentional. That's why he ejected him. That's how it is," O'Nora told a pool reporter.

"If you guys want to contact the office, we're going to write the report. They'll let you guys know. That's the reason he ended up ejected, because he thought it was intentional."

The Orioles didn't need an explanation.

"From what I saw, it's bad ball. It really is," said Chris Tillman, who won his 10th game after allowing three runs in six innings. "It's unfortunate that stuff like that happens. As a pitcher I get it, but not there. There's no reason for it. It's frustrating. It is."

"Yeah, it's obvious," said manager Buck Showalter. "You guys watched it, but there's a lot more to talk about in that game than that, but I know that's what people want to talk about."

Papelbon insisted to Ripperger that the pitch wasn't intentional.

"It kind of reminded me of the wrestlers that pulled somebody's hair and throw their hands up," Showalter said. "Who's that, the Hulk guy or something? Like really? But whatever."

Machado, who argued a called third strike earlier in the game as Showalter raced out of the dugout to protect him, glared at Papelbon but didn't go after him.

"He's not happy. We're not happy," Showalter said. "It's not part of the game, but I thought they were going to issue a warning on the first pitch. I was surprised they let him stay in the dugout for the rest of the inning."

Papelbon said he had no issues with Machado's reaction to the home run and enthusiastic celebration in the dugout.

"If a guy takes someone deep, they want to do whatever they want, that's fine with me. That's baseball," Papelbon said. "Whether or not I'm out there and someone thinks I show them up with a fist pump or someone pimps a home run, that's baseball. Just play the game. Don't let the game or let fans dictate otherwise. Play the game of baseball.

"They just said they deemed it intentional. They didn't give me any reason. I don't know if they have to give me a reason or not. But perception is reality. If Manny thinks I hit him, then that's what he thinks. I'm not going to sit here and go back and forth whether I did or whether I didn't because it doesn't matter. If he thinks I did, that's what he thinks."

The first pitch seemed to send a message.

"I don't know," Papelbon said. "I don't know what's going through his mind right there. All I can tell you is I'm trying to go out there and pitch and do my thing out there, and that's all that really matters. Whether they want to get somebody tomorrow, that's up to them. I think that's today's game, there's no more. If you think that I get you, then I'm out there, come get me in the seventh and it's done. It don't carry on until the next day. That's baseball.

"This is baseball. Two highly competitive teams, two great teams. We're both going out there trying to win a ballgame. That's basically what it boils down to. There's nothing other than that. It's baseball."

Machado's 30th home run also accounted for his 501st hit, and it wasn't a cheap on. He crushed a 98 mph fastball.

"He's got a shot at 100 runs," Showalter said. "I think that's what he's shooting for, too. He's going to have to have some help there. Of course, home runs, you help yourself with. It's apropos there that he caught the last out there."

Darren O'Day notched his fifth save after rookie Mychal Givens retired all six batters he faced and struck out Bryce Harper and Jayson Werth.

"Darren gave us a big inning," Showalter said. "I thought Mychal's eighth inning as much as the seventh, we had a little talk about the intensity you have to have every inning here. There's power everywhere, and if you drop your guard at all, you can pay a price for it. We pitched really well tonight. We had to to match Scherzer."

The win left the Orioles four games behind the Astros for the second wild card. They're one game below .500 for the first time since Aug. 27.

"I haven't even looked at it," Showalter said. "I'm just trying to win every game and see where it takes us. But thanks for telling me now I've got to grind on that. I'm trying the ignorance is bliss thing."

"We're not necessarily scoreboard watching, but we know what we've got to do," Tillman said. "We've got to take care of our own business. That's all you can really focus on right now, to go on out and try and win every single ballgame that we can and let the cards fall where they may."

And hope no one falls during Thursday's make-up game from a pitch that comes too far inside.

"I mean, Manny freaking hit a homer and walked it off and somebody drilled him. It's pretty tired," Harper said. "It's one of those situations where it happens. I don't know. I'll probably get drilled tomorrow. We'll see what happens."