By DAVID BRANDT
PHOENIX (AP) — LeBron James liked the clown nose. Dave Martinez wasn’t as big of a fan.
Sorry skip, it appears Washington Nationals outfielder Victor Robles is siding with the NBA superstar on this one.
Robles was caught by cameras in the dugout Sunday wearing a clown nose, a day after Arizona pitcher Madison Bumgarner called him a “clown” for briefly admiring his eighth-inning homer in Washington’s 7-2 loss.
James posted the picture of Robles wearing the clown nose on his Instagram story with the caption “Something I would do for sure!” Robles posted James’ reply on his own Instagram story.
Nationals manager Martinez wasn’t as thrilled with Robles’ light-hearted jab after Washington’s 4-3 win Sunday.
“I didn’t see it. I heard about it,” Martinez said. “I’ll talk to him. That’s not who we are. It happened, it’s done, I don’t want to see that kind of stuff.”
The incident started Saturday when Bumgarner took exception to Robles admiring a solo shot that brought the Nationals to 7-2.
“Clown,” Bumgarner said. “No shame. It’s 7-1, you hit your third homer of the year and you act like Barry Bonds breaking a record. Clean it up. I don’t care about giving up the run. Hell, we won 7-2 or 8-2, whatever it was. It’s frustrating.
“I’m the old, grumpy guy. I know. But that type of stuff didn’t used to happen.”
___
More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports